Five Elements
by AntiHero627
Summary: Everyone knows about the four elements, but who is aware of the fifth that was actually the first and is long forgotten? Now the fifth element is born in the hands of several beings who are destined to determine the fate of the world along with the Avatar
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey everybody! So this is a fanfic that just came to me and at first I just wanted to forget it but after thinking it over I decided "eh, I'll give it a shot." So I hope you like it because that will determine whether I can finish it or not.**

 **Chapter 1-**

 _Narration - Water, Earth, Fire, Air, and the center of it all, the source that gives power over these, the very thing that existed since the beginning of bending…Ki, Chi, or life force energy._

 _Long ago before bending even started, the only known element that could be manipulated was Ki. The energy within a person as well as the energy all around the physical and spirit world could be controlled if a person learned how to do it. There were numerous Ki users among the world, and although humans were capable of manipulating Ki to a certain level, the spirits' control over energy was extraordinary. That all came to an end when the Lion Turtles gave humans the ability to bend the elements. Although this was a temporary gift, it eventually became permanent after the Avatar separated the dark spirit from the light spirit and accidentally plunged the world into darkness._

 _As benders continued to increase, Ki users began to decrease. After the spirit world and the physical world were separated the use of energy was reduced to an ability meant to help manipulate the 4 elements. Eventually Ki was no longer viewed as the 1_ _st_ _element but a long forgotten ability meant for outcasts, failures or freaks. Without the connection to the spirit world, not many people valued the ability to access the energy from their own life force even though the Avatar himself was a Ki user._

 _This led to the remaining Ki users becoming corrupt and wanting to exert their powers by trying to conquer the world. All the benders stood together and with their mastery over the natural elements they managed to overpower the Ki users. Over the decades the Ki users were eventually eradicated until there was only one unknown Ki user left: the Avatar. The Lion Turtles gave bending to people all over the world and thus the four nations were created. Legend says that someday Ki users will return and they will be extremely powerful. After many centuries, 2 young boys were born with the ability to control energy._

 _But after a terrible incident the Ki brothers were separated from their family and each other. One of the Ki users was found by an Air nomad and taken in to the Air nation. There he was raised by monks and trained to use his life force energy to manipulate Air as well as an air bender. This young boy was friends with many air benders but his best friend was an air bender named Aang. This young Ki users' name was Gohan. These two have been friends since childhood. They were raised by the same Air bender- Monk Gyasto._

 _When the boys were 14 they were told about Aang being the Avatar and that he, along with his friend Gohan, would need to save the world one day, but in an attempt to avoid his destiny, Aang fled from the Southern Air Temple; leaving behind his master and his best friend. Sometime later Gohan left the Southern Air Temple in search of Aang. He searched for days but never found any sign of his lost friend. Gohan continued to look for Aang until a few days after he turned 15 when a very important event occurred that hurled Gohan and his dragon companion, Icarus, into the Spirit World where they remained as they healed unconsciously...until now._

One day, a boy named Sokka and a girl named Katara who were siblings from the Southern Water Tribe were fishing; after a small disagreement and bad canoeing, the siblings stumbled upon a large iceberg that was glowing. It was a little transparent so the inside could be seen. Inside the iceberg were a large 6 legged creature and a boy who was in a meditative stance with glowing tattoos on his hands, and forehead. The Water Tribe siblings stared at the iceberg when the boy's eyes suddenly opened.

"He's alive!" gasped Katara. "We've got to help him!"

Katara grabbed her brother's war club and ran towards the iceberg. "Katara stop! We don't know what that thing is!" cried Sokka as he ran after his sister.

Katara ignored her brother's words; she skipped across some ice and arrived at iceberg the boy was trapped in. She started beating the ice with the war club as Sokka appeared next to her. After a few whacks, the iceberg cracked and opened from the inside out. As the iceberg cracked from the bottom to the top and exploded, a pillar of bluish-white light shot into the sky. It went so far beyond the eye could see and it ripped a hole straight to the spirit world. This stream of energy grabbed a boy and his dragon, pulling them into the physical plain and dragging them towards the split iceberg.

Meanwhile on the water, an iron battle ship with a spiked prow sailed the ocean. Steam blew from the ship's funnel.

On the foredeck a teen dressed in red, with shaven head aside from the ponytail of black hair, stared at the energy beam ascending to the heavens. He had a scar at the left side of his face all around his left eye and his eyes were amber color. Next to him was his lieutenant and best friend, a lavender haired teen standing slightly taller than him wearing a blue armor with a scar over his right eye. His hair was also in a ponytail and he had light blue eyes. Unlike his friend's scar that covered the left side of his face, this teen's scar was shaped like a lightning bolt. He also had a sword strapped to his armour. The two teens gazed at the pillar of light with curiosity. "Finally," said the teen dressed in red. "Do you think this is it?" asked the lavender haired teen. "It has to be…Uncle, do you realize what this means?" asked the first teen.

Behind the teens was an old man wearing similar clothing to his nephew, sat cross- legged at a low table while drinking tea and playing a checker like game. The front part of his head was bald while he had long gray hair in the back; part of tied up behind his head and a thin pointed beard. "I won't be able to finish my game?" the old man asked.

"It means that our search is about to come to an end," the teen explained, making his uncle groan. "That light came from an incredibly powerful source. It has to be him!" reasoned the nephew as he looked into the distance as the pillar vanished. "I sense two powerful life forces from where that light is; perhaps one of them is the one we seek," said the lavender haired teen.

"Or it's just a celestial light," the old man argued. "We've been down this road before, Prince Zuko. I don't want you boys to get overexcited over nothing," said the old man as he moved a piece in his game. "Please, sit. Why don't you two enjoy a cup of jasmine tea?"

The one named Prince Zuko turned around and quickly addressed his uncle, "I don't need calming tea! I need to capture the Avatar!" Zuko then turned to his lieutenant and ordered, "Tell the Helmsman to head towards the light!" "Yes Prince Zuko," answered his lieutenant as he turned to enter the ship. "Trunks, you don't need to be so formal with me," said Zuko. "You and Uncle Iroh are the only ones on this ship who can address by just my name; after all you're royalty just like me."

"Banished royalty," said Trunks.

"My point is you don't need to call Prince Zuko just like I don't need to call you Prince Trunks; because of how close we are. You know that right?" asked Zuko.

Trunks turned towards his best friend/fellow Prince and smiled. "I know," he said before going to relay Zuko's order to the Helmsman.

Back at the iceberg, the energy pillar was lowering the boy and his dragon down gently, but as it began to fade they started to fall faster. Inside the iceberg, the powerful force of light started to decrease as Katara and Sokka stared at the remainder of the blue light that swirled around the opened ice. The tattooed boy soon stood up from his meditative position, his eyes and arrow tattoos were glowing brightly. He was wearing a red and yellow monk clothes.

Being cautious, Sokka raised his spear at the boy and shouted, "Stop!" The blue light soon faded completely and the boy stopped glowing. The boy then passed out and fell over, but Katara quickly caught him. She rested the boy on the ice just as her brother started poking the boy's head with the butt of his spear. "Stop it!" Katara said as she pushed her brother away.

The boy began to wake up, his eyes slowing opening revealing gray pupils. His eyes began to focus on the image of the girl he was in the arms of as the wind blew her hair. "I need to ask you something..." whispered the boy.

"What?" Katara asked with concern.

"Please...come closer..." the boy whispered again.

"What is it?" Katara asked again.

After a short pause, the boy's were suddenly fully opened and there was a big smile on his face. "Will you go penguin sledding with me?" he asked excitedly, now fully conscious.

"Uh...sure," answered the Waterbender. "I guess." She took a step back allowing the boy to gently float to his feet, alarming Sokka.

"What's going on here?" asked the boy.

"You tell us," said Sokka as he poked the boy with his spear. "How'd you get in the ice? And why aren't you frozen?"

"I'm not sure," answered the bald monk as he swatted the spear away. Suddenly a large crash sounded from inside the iceberg where the second boy and his dragon crash landed. The three kids looked towards the iceberg. "What was that?" asked the boy. The Water tribe siblings shrugged. "Is someone else in that iceberg?" asked Katara. "Only one way to find out," said the monk as he climbed into the iceberg followed by Katara and Sokka.

Inside the iceberg, they saw a small purple scaled dragon with four horns, wings that were small for its body, and a tail. On top of the dragon was a spiky black haired boy about their age wearing an orange gi, a long sleeved blue under shirt, wristbands, boots, and a red headband on his forehead. He also had a large sword with a round stone on it's hilt in a black sheath strapped to his back. The three kids stared with curiousity as the boy started to stir awake. "First a bald kid from an iceberg, and now a spiky haired kid falls from the sky," said Sokka to his sister. "Is this the beginning of another fire navy invasion?" Katara nudged her brother in response. The boy lifted up his head, revealing his face as he groaned, "What hit me? And how did I get here? Where am I anyway?" He opened his eyes, showing his black pupils as he scanned the area.

The monk's eyes grew wide as he recognized his long lost friend. "No way! Gohan, is that you?!" asked the monk. "That voice, it can't be," said Gohan as turned towards the monk. "Aang, it is you! I've found you!" The two friends ran and hugged each other.

"It's so great to see you!" said Aang.

"It's great to see you too pal!" Gohan said before he punched Aang in the arm. This gesture of friendship confused the Water tribe siblings. "Ow!" replied Aang. "That's for leaving without me," said Gohan before he hit Aang in the arm a second time. "Ow!" Aang complained rubbing his arm. "That's for not telling me that you were going to the South Pole so that I'd know where to find you!" explained Gohan. "I wasn't planning on coming here… I don't know how I got here actually," replied Aang. "Weird, I don't remember how I got here either," said Gohan. "So how long have you been searching for me?" asked the bald monk. "Days. Everybody's probably worried sick about us, especially Gyasto," answered Gohan. When he saw the sad look on his friends face he decided to change topics. "Hey Aang, where's Appa?" Right on cue, a low animal groan was heard from inside the iceberg.

"Oh!" Aang gasped before he suddenly began climbing the ruined iceberg. Gohan soon went after him, followed by Katara and Sokka. Aang jumped over the ice crater and landed on a large furry animal. Gohan went next to his purple Dragon and check if he was ok.

"Appa! Are you alright buddy?" Aang asked the giant beast.

"Icarus! Come on, time to wake up!" said Gohan.

Aang struggled to lift the large animal's head while Gohan was shaking the dragon. "Wake up, buddy," said Aang as he continued.

Katara and Sokka just stared in shock as the boys tried to wake up their unusual pets. Suddenly the large animal opened its mouth to lick Aang, while Icarus stood on his back legs and licked Gohan's face. "Haha! You're okay!" Aang cheered as he hugged the beast. "Alright Icarus, I'm happy to see you too," said Gohan. The large animal had six legs, two horns on his head, a large arrow on his head, white fur, and a big flat tail.

"What _are_ those things?!" asked a puzzled Sokka.

"This is Appa, my flying bison," answered Aang.

"And this is Icarus, my magic Dragon," introduced Gohan.

"Right," said the warrior, clearly skeptical. "And this is Katara, my magic flying sister." Appa then suddenly sneezed, launching mucus right at Sokka. "Ewww! AAHH!" cried Sokka as he rubbed his face on the ice floor. Gohan laughed at this.

"Don't worry, it'll wash out," assured Aang.

"Ugh!" moaned Sokka as the snot stuck to his hand.

"So, do you guys live around here?" asked Aang.

"Don't answer that!" said the angry Water Tribe Warrior to his sister. He glared at the boys and pointed his spear at Aang. "Did you see that crazy column of light? They were probably trying to signal the Fire Navy!" "Oh yeah, I'm sure they're Fire Navy spies," Katara said, clearly mocking her brother. "You can tell by the _evil_ look in their eyes." Aang and Gohan responded simply by smiling innocently. "The paranoid one is my brother, Sokka. We didn't catch your names."

"My name's Gohan," the spiky haired boy introduced. "And I'm A…aaahhh…aaahhh…aaahaaahaah AAAAAACHOOOOO!" The monk sneezed, launching himself high off the ground, surprising the Water Tribe siblings. He then slid back down the iceberg and finished his introduction before rubbing his nose. "I'm Aang."

"You just sneezed…and flew ten feet in the air," commented an amazed Sokka.

"Really? It felt higher than that," Aang said.

"Probably up to twelve feet," said Gohan.

"You're an Airbender!" Katara gasped in realization.

"Sure am," answered Aang.

"So you two are close friends?" Katara asked from observing the two boys. "Really close," answered Aang. "Close enough to be brothers," said Gohan. "Are you an Airbender too, Gohan?" asked the Water Tribe girl. "No, I'm an Energy Bender," replied Gohan. Katara stared wide-eyed at him while Sokka wandered to the edge of the iceberg holding his head. "Giant light beams, flying bison, magic dragon, Air and Energy benders; I think I've got Midnight Sun Madness. I'm going home to where stuff makes sense." Sokka then realized that he had no canoe to get home with and that he was stuck in the middle of the ocean.

"Well, if you guys are stuck, Appa and I can give you a ride," offered Aang before he hoisted himself onto the bison's head. "We'd love a ride! Thanks!" said Katara. She then took Aang's hand, allowing him to pull her onto Appa's saddle. Gohan had placed Icarus on the saddle and sat next to Aang. "Icarus is probably tried from our trip; he'll need some time to rest before he can fly again. You coming Sokka?" he asked the Water Tribe warrior.

"Oh no…I am not getting on that fluffy snot monster," stated Sokka.

"That's not very nice," said Gohan.

"Are you hoping some other kind of monster will come and give you a ride home? You know, before you freeze to death?" asked Katara.

Sokka opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when Gohan said, "Your sister's got a point." Realizing that they were right and that Appa was his only way home, climbed onto the saddle and sat next to his sister. Katara had an anxious look on her face while her brother wore a grumpy look on his. Icarus sat behind them where he was sleeping soundly. "Ok. First time flyers, hold on tight!" instructed Aang before he shook the reins on Appa horns and shouted "Appa, yip yap!" Appa responded by flapping his tail and jumping into the air as if he intended to fly, but he quickly descended to the water and started to swim. "Come on, Appa. Yip yap." Aang tried once more to get his bison to fly but to no avail. "He must be tired too," suggested Gohan.

"Wow. That was truly amazing," Sokka said sarcastically. "Appa's just tired," Aang assured the Water Tribe siblings. "A little rest and he'll be soaring through the sky." Katara started looking around until she noticed the bald monk gazing at her with a huge smile on his face.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?" asked Katara to Aang.

"Oh, I was smiling?" asked an embarrassed Airbender.

"Ugh," groaned Sokka as he laid back and stared at the sky. Gohan nudged his best friend/brother and whispered in his ear, "Seems to me that someone likes a certain someone else." "Shut up," said Aang as Gohan laid back and closed his eyes.

Meanwhile…

The Fire Navy ship continued it's journey towards the iceberg. With the sun setting, most of the crew members decided to turn in for the night. However the two Fire Princes stood on the deck of the ship, still waiting to find their target while staring off into the horizon. The two removed their armor and wore red robes as if they planned on sleeping, but their faces showed that they had no intention of it. Iroh was standing behind them looking tired. "I'm going to bed now," Iroh yawned. "Good night, Iroh," said Trunks. "Yep. A man needs his rest. Prince Zuko, Prince Trunks, you both need some sleep," Iroh said. The two teens continued to gaze onward as though they hadn't heard him.

"Even if you're right and the Avatar is alive, you won't find him. Fire lord Ozai, Fire lord Azulan, and even Fire lord Sozin all tried and failed." Iroh explained. "Because their honor didn't hinge on the Avatar's capture. Mine does," Zuko said to his uncle. "This coward's hundred years of hiding are over."

"Don't worry Iroh, we're not tired yet," answered Trunks.

Iroh decided to let them be, seeing as they wouldn't budge, and left to get some sleep. He sighed and went inside the ship.

After Iroh left, Trunks turned to his friend and said, "We should get some rest. Even if we find the Avatar, there'd be no point in trying to capture him if we're exhausted when we face him." "It's fine Trunks, I don't need any sleep," replied Zuko. "Maybe so, but it's still better to rest before you face an unknown opponent in battle." Trunks advised. "Don't worry, just get thirty minutes of rest and then we'll swap. Deal?" Prince Zuko sighed and said, "Deal." He then turned to enter the ship. "One more thing Zuko…" said Trunks getting Zuko's attention. "The Avatar might not be the only unknown opponent we face in battle."

Zuko waited for Trunks to say more, but he left it there. The Prince nodded at his lavender haired companion and entered the ship. As the day turned to night, only one thought was on Prince Trunks' mind. _"Could there be another Energy bender out there?"_

0-0

Appa continued to swim through the ocean as Aang, Gohan, Katara, and Sokka rested on him. Sokka was sound asleep and snoring along with Gohan. Katara crawled over to the front of the saddle where she saw the bald monk laying back and staring at the sky beside his spiky haired friend.

"Hey," the Water Tribe girl greeted her new friend.

"Hey. Whatcha thinking about?" asked the Airbender.

"I guess I was wondering—you being an airbender and all—if you had any idea what happened to the Avatar," Katara stated.

Her response made Aang uncomfortable as he frown and sat up straight. "Uh…no. I didn't know him." The Airbender lied without looking his friend in the eye. "I mean, I knew some people that knew him, but I didn't. Sorry."

"Does Gohan have any idea?" Katara persisted.

"I don't think so," Aang lied again. "We tell each other everything, so if he knew anything about the Avatar he would've told me."

"Okay. Just curious." The Waterbender decided to put it aside for now. She moved to the back of the saddle after saying, "Goodnight."

"Sleep tight," replied Aang. After she left, Aang turned to face the direction they were going. "It's rude to answer for someone else, you know…" said a voice from beside Aang. The Energy bender sat up to show that he was awake and listening. When his friend didn't respond and he saw the glum look on his face, he continued to speak. "How long do you think you can hide it from them?" asked Gohan. "You'll have to tell them eventually, it's who you are."

"I don't want to tell them about that," replied the sad Airbender. "I don't want them to reject me like our friends did. I just want them to know me as me."

"And who are you?" asked Gohan.

"I'm Aang," the monk answered nonchalantly. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell them either." Gohan just sighed as he lay back again to sleep. "You're not just Aang anymore; eventually you'll have to accept that. It wasn't right for our friends to shun you, but hiding who you are isn't the solution. I won't tell them your secret, but you should." And with that Gohan closed his eyes and fell asleep as did Aang.

The next day…

 _The sky was red as if the world was suddenly on fire. The air was incredibly hot, so it made breathing hard. Gohan woke up to see that he was on Icarus' back instead of Appa's. Gohan grasped his dragon as they flew through the fiery world. Suddenly Gohan looked up to see that the sun was shining brighter than usual; he also saw a second sun shining in the sky. He noticed this second sun was emitting and unbelievable amount of energy, and he suddenly felt the powers of several other beings skyrocket from down below. At that moment, he noticed that the second sun wasn't a sun at all, but a great ball of fire and it was heading right for him. Gohan tried to steer Icarus away from the plummeting fireball but to no avail. Gohan and Icarus were hit by the falling flaming rock and it started pushing the two towards the ground. They were falling at such a speed against the fireball that it was impossible to move. Gohan slightly turned his neck to look towards the Earth as he thought it would be the last time he would see it. Gohan and Icarus skin began to burn as they continued to fall; the air was even hotter than before as air started escaping his lungs._

 _Suddenly Gohan closed his eyes and reopened them instantly, revealing emerald pupils. His hair turned from black to gold and he was surrounded by a golden aura. Gohan then stuck out his hand towards the ground and fired an enormous energy beam. The beam hit the ground in the Energy bender's attempt to save himself and Icarus._

 _The ball of fire was still pushing them towards the Earth but now in the line of the energy beam. Finally the falling sun hit the ground with Gohan and Icarus still on it, on impact a huge explosion erupted and the two flyers were launched through a small portal that led to a different world. There Gohan changed back to his norm as he and Icarus lost consciousness. In this different world a lot of disfigured creatures circled the two while the energy in this world was healing their injuries. There they drifted unconsciously until_ …

Gohan suddenly felt something wet being rubbed against his face. He sat up startled as he struggled to catch his breath. Icarus chirped (or whatever noise he makes) expressing that he was happy to see Gohan up. The energy bender looked around and saw that he was inside a tent. " _I must've been dreaming…but what was that?"_ Gohan thought. Icarus started licking Gohan again, making the boy laugh. "Alright Icarus, good morning to you too," greeted the spiky haired teen.

"Oh good, you're awake," said Katara's voice. Gohan looked up to see the Water Tribe siblings standing by the tent door. "Good morning guys," greeted Gohan. "Good morning Gohan," Katara returned. Sokka just grunted. "Now that you're up, you can meet the entire village. First I have some things to do, then I'll wake up Aang, and we'll meet you outside," said Katara. Gohan nodded as he put his clothes and strapped his sword to his back. As they stepped outside, Katara left to see Aang while Sokka walked towards the village where a small group of people were. Gohan then pulled out his headband and tied it around his forehead. "What's with the headband?" asked Sokka.

Gohan shrugged and said, "I've had since I was a kid. I just wear it everywhere."

Sokka nodded and took notice of Gohan's sword. "You know how to use that blade on your back?" he asked. "Yeah. I found it a long time ago; it's really heavy so it was hard to handle, but eventually I got used to it," replied Gohan. "I bet a real warrior like me could easily handle that sword, mind if I see it?" said Sokka. "I wouldn't recommend it, but if you're sure you can handle it…" warned Gohan. "I'm sure," replied Sokka. Gohan smirked as he pulled the sword out of its black sheath. "…well then here you go." Gohan said as he threw the sword to Sokka. Sokka grabbed the hilt with his right hand, but the instant he did the sword fell to the ground pulling him down with it while Gohan flexed to relieve himself from the strain caused by the Sword. "That takes a load off," said Gohan.

The sword landed in the snow and slowly started to sink. Sokka struggled to lift it out but it still sunk with him pulling on the hilt. The Water Tribe Warrior grabbed the sword with his left hand and tried to lift the sword again. Gohan watched with amusement as his friend struggled to pull out his weapon. When Sokka saw Gohan's smirk, he glared at the Energy bender and released the sword. Sokka started huffing as he had exhausted himself trying to lift the sword. "Let's see…huff…if you can…huff…pull your sword out…huff…when it's buried under…huff…a hundred feet of snow!" challenged Sokka. Gohan just smiled as he walked over to where the sword was sinking, and stomped his foot to be buried under the sword. He then kicked the sword out of the snow into the air, where he grabbed it his right hand, spun it around, and pointed it at Sokka's nose before putting it in the sheath.

Sokka stared in surprise at the spiky haired teen before coughing indignantly and saying, "Whatever, that sword's not really my kind of weapon anyway." Gohan just smiled and looked to where Aang's tent was.

Inside the tent, Aang was having a strange dream of his own. In his dream, he was on Appa's saddle and flying through a heavy storm. The sky was dark and the wind was strong. Lightning flashed through the sky as the Sky bison struggled to fly. The Airbender grabbed the reins and pulled as hard as he could; trying to steer his animal friend. His efforts were useless as the two were consumed by the raging waves of the sea below. Appa struggled to remain above the waters but the stormy waters were too overwhelming. He managed to come up for air once but a little while after he did, he was pushed back under the sea. The two began to sink deeper and deeper, losing air as they sank. Aang let go of the reins as he unconsciously drifted away from Appa, who was also unconscious. As the Airbender moved further away from the Sky Bison, his tattoos suddenly started glowing along with his eyes. Aang then bashed his fists together and created a bubble around him and Appa. As the bubble began to expand, it started to freeze and harden.

" _Aang!_ _Aang, wake up!"_ The monk heard a voice calling him from inside his dream. He woke with a jolt as he gasped for air and tossed his covers off. "It's okay. We're in the village now," said Katara from beside him. Aang looked around and saw that he was in a tent. "Come on, get ready. Everyone's waiting to meet you and Gohan."

Aang nodded and got up to put on his clothes. Before he finished, Katara got a good look at his tattoos; she noticed that they were spread out to the four limbs of his body and his head. After he finished, he grabbed his staff and Katara grabbed him, pulling him outside. When they went outside, they saw a small crowd that consisted of women of different ages and little kids. Katara lead Aang to the spot where Gohan and Sokka were waiting and placed him beside his spiky haired brother.

"Aang, Gohan, this is the entire village. Entire village, Aang and Gohan," Katara introduced. The two foreigners bowed in respect. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you," said Gohan. The village however responded by shifting back a bit and giving them strange looks.

"Uh…why are they all looking at us like that?" asked Aang. "Did Appa sneeze on us?" He began inspecting his clothes. "I don't think so," said Gohan.

"Well, no one has seen an airbender for a hundred years," explained an old woman as she approached the young boys. She appeared to be the oldest in the village. "We thought they were extinct, until my grandchildren found you."

"Extinct?" asked the confused Airbender.

 _"How can that be?"_ thought Gohan.

The old woman then looked at Gohan and said, "And we know that Ki users are extinct, so meeting one is quite a rare occurrence for us."

"I prefer the term Energy bender," explained Gohan.

"Guys, this is my grandmother," Katara introduced.

"Call me Gran Gran," insisted the old woman.

Suddenly Sokka walked to Aang and grabbed his staff. "What is this? A weapon?" he asked as he examined it. "You can't stab anything with this; your brother's heavy sword makes a better weapon."

"That's because it's not for stabbing," replied Aang as he used airbending to reclaim his staff. "It's for airbending." He then opened the staff, revealing its two sets of red wings. "Magic! Do it again!" cheered one of the small children. "Not magic, airbending," Aang explained. "My glider lets me control the air around me and fly. Gohan can use the glider to fly as well, but since he's been studying and training with airbenders for years, he's learn to fly with his own energy."

"You know, last time I checked humans can't fly!" Sokka stated, clearly not believing them.

The two foreigners looked at each other and smirked. Aang positioned himself under his glider while Gohan took a stance. "Check again!" they said as they both shot up into the air. Aang soared through the sky above the villagers' heads. Gohan flew right next to him with his arms spread out. As the two soared through the air, the villagers pointed up at them in awe.

"Whoa…"

"They're flying…"

"This is incredible!"

The villagers continued to watch as the boys did loops in the air. Sokka stared at the two flying boys with his mouth hanging open. _"How is this possible?"_ he thought.

Seeing the reaction on Sokka's face, Gohan smirked and decided to have some fun with this. " _Is it possible, that two boys can fly…make a fool of Sokka, gravity defied…"_ the spiky haired teen sang as he flew. Sokka glared at him while some of the villagers were laughing. As the two boys continued to soar through the air, Aang looked down and saw Katara smiling. He returned the smile and didn't notice that he was headed toward a pillar of snow. "Oof!" said Aang as he crashed into the snow tower. Gohan stopped and landed beside his friend. "My Watchtower!" exclaimed Sokka as the snow buried Aang. Gohan held out his hand and Aang took it, allowing his friend to pull him to his feet. "I'll make you a new one!" promised Gohan.

The Water Tribe soon ran up to meet them. Katara stood by the foreigners and said, "That was amazing, you guys!" while Sokka ran to the pile of snow trying to repair the tower but the snow just fell on top of him as Aang closed his glider. "Great. You're an Airbender, your brother's an Energy bender, and Katara's a Waterbender; together you three can waste time all day long," said Sokka before he walked away.

"You're a Waterbender!"said Aang to the Southern Waterbender.

"Well...sort of, not yet," explained Katara.

"Of course you are, you just need more training," encouraged Gohan.

"Alright, no more playing," said Gran Gran to the three benders. "Come Katara, you have chores." Katara and her grandmother walked away while Gohan started rebuilding Sokka's watchtower and Aang started playing with the children. As they walked away, Katara was filled with excitement. "I told you Gran Gran, they're the real thing!" she said. "I finally found benders to teach me!" Her grandmother was not as excited as she was. "Katara, try not to put all your hopes in those boys," said Gran Gran. "But they're special, especially Aang. I can tell," replied Katara. "I sense they're filled with much wisdom." They looked back at the Airbender, who now had his tongue stuck to his frozen staff.

"Sthee? Now my sthaff ith thuck to my tongue," said Aang making the children laughed, one of them tried to pull the staff free, hurting Aang's tongue in the process. Katara looked at her grandmother nervously and said, "Well, Gohan is at least." Gran Gran just held her neutral expression.

Elsewhere…

The fire navy ship continued to sail towards the iceberg where the pillar of light appeared from. Onboard the ship, the two princes were currently training themselves. On the deck of the ship, Zuko and Trunks were sparring against four guards while Iroh observed. After launching a fireball at their opponents (or in Trunks' case an energy blast.) Iroh instructed his students to do it again. The two princes repeated they're last attack and Iroh said, "Again!" in a commanding tone. The teenagers attacked the fire guards again, who reacted by dodging and firing their own balls of fire to counter the princes attack. Zuko and Trunks quickly dodged and appeared on the other side of deck.

"No!" said Iroh as he stood up. "The power in bending comes from the breath, not the muscle!" Iroh corrected the princes as he prepared to demonstrate the proper way. "The breath becomes energy in the body; the energy goes past the limbs and becomes fire!" As Iroh finished explaining, he fired a perfectly controlled fire blast at his princes. It disappeared before it could touch them. "Get it right this time!" ordered Iroh. Trunks bowed in respect and returned to training as Zuko glared at his uncle.

"Enough!" Zuko shouted as he approached his teacher. "We've been doing these drills all day! Teach us the next set, we're more than ready!"

"No! You're impatient, Prince Zuko!" argued Iroh. "You both have to master the basics. Do it again!" Iroh commanded as he sat down. Trunks took a big inhale before he shouted "HAAA!" He then stretched out his hands towards his two opponents and fired two ki blasts at them. The blast hit the guards in the chest, knocking them flat on their backs a few feet away from Prince Trunks. (A/N: Don't worry. Ki blasts in this fanfic are mostly meant to stun people; only a few times will they be meant to kill someone.) Trunks bowed to his fallen foes before bowing to Iroh and then sitting down as well and eating a plate of food.

"See? Trunks knows how to take his time in order to improve his skills," said Iroh which made Zuko growl. "You should follow his example and complete this drill before moving on to the next level." Now angry, Zuko turned around and threw a kick which shot a strong fire blast that knock down one of the guards still standing. "The Sages say that the Avatar is the last Airbender and is friends with one of the remaining Energy benders," said Zuko as he faced his uncle. "He must be over a hundred years old by now. He's had a century to master the four elements, and now we learn that he could have an Energy bender with him. We'll need more than basic firebending to defeat them," reasoned the fire Prince before he ordered, "You will teach us the advanced set!"

Iroh looked at his nephew with a stern look before turning to Trunks, who nodded. The wise fire general turned back to his nephew and said, "Very well, but first…" his face then turned to one full of delight as did Trunks. "We must finish our roast duck," said the lavender haired prince. Prince Zuko could stare in slight disgust as his companions brought out a box full of meat and started gobbling it down very fast. "You guys and your appetite…" said the fire prince as he sat to wait for them.

Back at the Southern Water Tribe Village…

It was the afternoon and the sky had no clouds to block the burning sun. Sokka was busy at this time giving a speech to his warriors in training, who also happened to be six toddlers, while Gohan sat down and watched. Gohan questioned why Sokka was trying to groom little children into fighters considering how young they were, but then he thought, _"Guess you're never too young to start; I should know that."_ "Now men, it's important that you show no fear when you face a Firebender. In the Water Tribe, we fight till the last man is left standing. For without courage, how can we call ourselves men?" "Good speech, very inspirational…" said Gohan which made Sokka grin as he pumped his fist in the air.

The toddlers however didn't respond as they stared at their teacher with blank expressions. "…but these are just toddlers, so they won't understand half of what you're saying," finished the spiky haired kid, making Sokka frown. As if to prove Gohan's point, one of the small boys said, "I gotta pee!" and raised his hand.

"Listen! Until your fathers return from the war, they're counting on you to be the men of this tribe," Sokka said, trying to be stern. "And that means no potty breaks!" "But I really gotta go," urged the small boy, still not understanding his teacher's words. Sokka just sighed and asked, "Okay, who else has to go?" All the kids raised their hands, making Sokka slap his forehead as Gohan laughed. "You think you can do a better job teaching these kids?" asked the Water Tribesman as the children left. Gohan got up and looked towards the kids leaving. "Sure, you just need to know how to handle them," said the Energy bender.

"Then they're all yours when they get back," said Sokka. "I think I'll go fishing to clear my mind. Plus I need food."

"No need, I've already caught about 4 baskets of fish and descaled them. Now the women are busy cooking them for lunch," said Gohan.

"Yeah right, not even I can catch that many fish in one morning, let alone descale them before noon," laughed Sokka.

"You can go see for yourself; they're in that tent," said Gohan as he pointed to a nearby tent.

"Alright, let's see this large stack of fish you managed to catch," said Sokka. Gohan noticed the children coming back from their bathroom break and said, "You go on ahead; I'll stay and train the kids."

"Good luck," said Sokka.

The kids all sat down in front of Gohan, assuming that Sokka was returning soon. When they saw that he wasn't one of the kids asked, "Where's Sokka?" "He went to take a break; he left me in charge of your training," answered the spiky haired teen. "But, why don't we play a game instead?" All the kids grew excited after hearing that idea. "What game are we playing?" asked another boy anxiously. Gohan smiled at the boy's anxiety and said, "Try to see if you can copy what I'm doing." He then stood in place and started throwing slow punches and kicks. The kids watched Gohan carefully before standing to copy his movements. Gohan continued to perform fighting stances and attacks while the kids copied his movements. They played this gamed for seven minutes, which was enough time for Sokka to stare at the stacks of fish that were to be lunch and ask where this fish feast came from before being told that the Energy bender caught them all after rebuilding his watchtower, which looked magnificent.

Sokka then left to return to his students and was surprised to see them mimicking Gohan's movements. When he approached Gohan, he asked, "What's going on here?" "We're playing a game," answered Gohan. "Training methods!" answered the kids. Sokka stared with his mouth wide open as his trainees continued to perform fighting moves foreign to him. "How'd you do it?" asked the Water Tribesman. "I'm just good with kids," answered Gohan.

Just then the southern Water Tribe girl approached them. "Have you guys seen Aang?" asked Katara. "Gran Gran said he disappeared an hour ago."

Gohan pointed to the direction where some kids were sliding on Appa's tail which had Sokka's spear as its support while others were riding on Icarus a few feet from the ground. "Wheee!" shouted the children. Beside the kids was the last Airbender, who was helping to hoist them onto the Appa slide. Children laughed as they slid down the bison's tail and landed in the snow. Gohan cheered the kids on as Katara giggled at the fun. Sokka however wasn't happy.

"Stop that right now!" shouted Sokka as he ran towards the bison. He removed his spear, ruining everyone's fun. "What's wrong with you?" Sokka asked Aang. "We don't have time for fun and games with the war going on!"

"What war? What are you talking about?" asked Aang just as Katara and Gohan approached them. The Water Tribe siblings looked at Aang very skeptically. They turned to Gohan who also looked like he didn't know what Sokka was talking about. "You're kidding right?" asked Sokka. Before his question could be answered, Aang caught a glimpse of a small black and white creature in a distance from them. "PENGUIN!" shouted Aang startling the creature and causing it to run off. Aang suddenly ran after the arctic bird with great speed, leaving his brother and the Southern Water Tribe teens behind.

"He's kidding right?" asked Sokka again. Katara shrugged as Gohan shook his head no. "How can you put up with someone like that?" asked Sokka to Gohan. The Energy bender smiled and said, "Easy. We both know how and when to have fun...like right now!" before he ran in the direction Aang left in with speed comparable to the Airbender's. Katara soon went after the foreigners and found them surrounded by penguins. The two were trying to catch the penguins in order to use them for sledding, but the little creatures just slipped away from them.

"Hey, come on little guy, wanna go sledding?" Aang asked as he continued to chase the penguin. Gohan tried grabbing one by the tail but it quickly slipped out of his grasp. Aang tried to show his connection with animals to Katara by mimicking the Penguins which she giggled at.

"Aang, Gohan! How about I help you both catch a penguin if you guys teach me waterbending?"asked the Water Tribe girl. "You got a deal," answered Aang. "Just one little problem. I'm an Airbender and Gohan's an Energy bender. We're not Waterbenders."

"Isn't there another Waterbender in your tribe who can teach you?"asked Gohan. Katara's face soon turned sad as she answered the question. "No, you're looking at the only Waterbender in the whole South Pole."

"This isn't right, a Waterbender needs to master water," said Aang _._

 _"How can there be only one Waterbender in the South Pole?"_ thought Gohan. "Hey, what about the North Pole? There's gotta be another Water Tribe that's full of Waterbenders up there right?" asked the Energy bender.

"Gohan's right. Maybe they have Waterbenders who can teach you," suggested the Airbender.

"Maybe, but we haven't had contact with our sister tribe in a long time," replied Katara. "It's not exactly turn right at the second glacier; it's on the other side of the world."

 _"How could the South Pole and North Pole not be in contact for so long?"_ thought Gohan as Aang spoke up, "You forget, I have a flying bison and Gohan's got a magic dragon. The four of us could personally fly you to the North Pole. Then we could find you a master." "That..." Katara started to say before she thought about the offer. "I mean, I don't know. I've never left home before." "The best chance for you to learn Waterbending is for you go to the North Pole, and along the way you can practice your skills while exploring the world with us," said Gohan. "I still don't know," answered Katara. "Well you think about it," said Aang before he asked, "But in the meantime, can you teach us how to catch some of these penguins?"

"Ok. Listen closely my young pupils, catching penguins is an ancient and sacred art," said Katara before she pulled out a fish from her sleeves. "Observe." She then tossed the fish to Aang, who caught it and was soon surrounded by penguins. The Airbender laughed as the arctic birds swarmed him for the fish.

"Got anymore fish?" asked Gohan before Katara tossed him one as well, and he was soon in the same situation as his brother.

Moments later, Aang, Gohan, and Katara were sledding down glaciers on the backs of penguins. "Whoo!" They yelled as they slid downward. Katara and Gohan continued to slide downward while Aang flew off a snow ramp and sailed over their heads. He landed right in front of them before they flew off their own snow ramp and appeared beside him. The three friends laughed as they slid faster. "I haven't done this since I was a kid," said Katara. "You still are a kid!" Aang reminded her. "Yeah, sometimes you need to cut loose and have some fun," said Gohan. The three penguin sledders soon slid into an icy cave, where they raced and slid around the surface, until they finally stopped in front of a giant ship that was held up by an ice hill.

"Whoa!" said Aang as he and Gohan approached the ship. "What is that?" "A Fire Navy ship and a very bad memory for my people," replied Katara. The two boys started walking towards the ship before Katara called to them, "Guys stop! We're not allowed near it, the ship could be booby trapped!" "If you wanna be a bender, you have to let go of fear," advised Aang. The three friends soon entered the ship and wandered around. They eventually came across a room full of weapons. "This ship has haunted my Tribe since Gran Gran was a little girl." explained Katara. "How come?" asked Gohan. "It's from the Fire Nation's first attack!" answered Katara. _"What is this war they keep mentioning with the Fire Nation?"_ thought Gohan.

The two boys now looked at her with very confused expressions on their face. "Ok, back up," said Aang as he picked a spear. "We have friends all over the world, even in the Fire Nation; we've never seen any war."

"Aang, how long were you in that iceberg?" asked Katara.

"I don't know, a few days maybe," answered an uncertain Aang.

"I think it was more like a hundred years," said Katara.

"What?! That's impossible! Do I look like a hundred and fourteen year old man to you?" argued Aang.

"Think about it. The war is a century old, you don't know about it because somehow you were there the whole time. It's the only explanation," reasoned Katara. Aang's face suddenly grew shocked before he remembered something. "What about Gohan? He's my brother and he looks just as old as I do. He didn't know about the war either and he wasn't in the iceberg with me," questioned the Airbender.

"You're right. I wasn't with you in the iceberg, but something else happened to me," said Gohan as he stared at the weapons. "Like what?" asked Katara. Gohan sighed as he explained his recent dream. "I don't remember much, but I do remember looking for Aang on Icarus when suddenly we were hit by some sort of giant fireball." Gohan looked towards at his friends who stared at him with confused looks. "I know it sounds a little crazy, but that's what happened. Icarus and I were plummeting towards the ground when we collided with some enormous fireball. We almost died..." he stopped for a moment before he spoke again "...but then I suddenly felt this tremendous surge of power! It was like one minute I'm pressed against the huge fireball and the next I'm pushing at it with my energy."

The two nodded as they gestured him to continue. "When we hit the ground, we were caught in some small explosion that consumed us completely. Before I passed out from my injuries, I saw these figureless beings circling me. It looked like I was in a different world, one where energy filled the air and this very same energy started healing our wounds."

"Sounds like the spirit world," said Katara.

"What?!" asked the brothers.

"Gran Gran used to tell me stories about the spirit world, that's just like how she described it. Which means while Aang was in an iceberg for a hundred years, you were in the Spirit world for that long," explained Katara.

The boys' faces held expressions of shock as they let all they just learned sink in. They both sat down as they held their heads. "A hundred years, I can't believe it," said Aang. "I wonder how much the world has changed from what we knew it to be?" said Gohan. Katara knelt by the boys and tried to comfort them. "I'm sorry guys. Maybe there's a bright side to all this," suggested the Waterbender.

"Well, we did get to meet you," said Aang to the Waterbender which made her smile. "There's also Sokka. He's not that bad, but he's not exactly worth spending hundred years in an iceberg or the spirit world," joked Gohan. The three benders laughed as they stood up. "Come on, let's get out of here," said Katara.

Although they intended on leaving, they started wandering the ship more than necessary. "Guys, let's head back this place is creepy," said Katara as they continued to look around. "Katara's right, there's nothing more to see here," said Gohan. Just then Aang looked down as he tripped a small wire that locked the three in a cell. "What's that you said about booby traps?" asked Aang nervously. The ship suddenly started heating up as steam blew around them. "This can't be good," said Gohan.

Suddenly a signal flare was blasted into the sky through the ceiling. The three looked out and saw the flare in the sky. "Hold on tight!" ordered Aang as he picked Katara up bridal style and jumped out the ship through the ceiling hole, with Gohan right behind them. The two jumped from the top of the ship to the bottom.

Unbeknownst to them, Prince Zuko was looking through a telescope while Trunks was standing next to him. He saw the flare in the sky before looked towards the abandoned ship where he saw Aang and Gohan escaping. "The last Airbender; quite agile for his old age," said Zuko as he observed Aang. "You were right Trunks, he's not alone. That's probably the other Energybender you mentioned." "Interesting," said Trunks. "I wonder if he'll be a challenge to me?"

"Trunks, wake my Uncle! Tell him I found the Avatar," ordered Zuko as he watched the three kids run back to the Southern Water Tribe Village. "As well as his hiding place."

 **A/N: Finally done! Man! This took forever to finish! Now I know you guys might have some questions and I promise, they will be answered in time. Until them ask them in the reviews so that I may see them and I'll try to answer them. Get ready for the next chapter, cause it's coming out soon. Until next time, TTFN! AntiHero out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer- I don't own Dragon ball Z or Avatar-The Last Airbender**

 **Chapter 2-**

The three benders made it back to the Village where they saw everyone was waiting for them. When the children saw them approaching, they cheered, "Yay! Aang and Gohan are back!" as they ran up and gathered around the brothers. Although the kids were glad to see them, Sokka was not. "I knew it, you signaled the Fire Nation with that flare! You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?" Sokka accused Aang and Gohan.

"Aang and Gohan didn't do anything," said Katara as she tried to defend them. "It was an accident."

"Yeah, we were on the ship and there was this booby trap and well...we boobied right into it," explained the young monk as he placed his hand on his head in embarrassment. "We didn't mean for that to happen; we're sorry," said Gohan. "Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship. Now we could all be in danger!" said Gran Gran in disappointment. "Don't blame Katara, we brought her there," defended Aang as he looked down. "Yeah. It's our fault, not hers," Gohan admitted.

"Aha! The traitors confess! Warriors, away from the enemy!" said Sokka. The children obeyed and returned to the villagers, leaving Gohan and Aang. "The foreigners are banished from our village!"

"Sokka, you're making a mistake!" Katara shouted at her older brother.

"No! I'm keeping my promise to Dad," Sokka argued back as he pointed at the two boys. "I'm protecting you from threats like those two!"

"Aang and Gohan are not our enemies!" Katara continued to argue as she gestured to her friends. "Don't you see? They brought us something we haven't had in a long time: fun."

"Fun? We can't fight firebenders with fun!"said Sokka.

"You should try it sometime," suggested Aang.

"I fight while having fun a lot, and I'm sure fun would make a much better weapon to fight with than a tooth on a bone,"Gohan commented.

No longer wishing to see the foreigners anymore, Sokka spoke with a demanding tone. "Get out of our Village, now!"

"Grandmother, please don't let Sokka do this." Katara begged her Grandmother in an attempt to keep the boys around.

"Katara, you knew going on that ship was forbidden. I'm afraid Sokka is right; I think it'd be best if the Airbender and the Energybender leave," said Gran of the other adult villagers spoke but it was pretty clear by their looks and their silence that they weren't going to support Katara or defend theforeigners.

Feeling betrayed by her Tribe, Katara replied, "Fine! Then I'm banished too!" before she grabbed Aang's wrist and stormed off towardAppa, who was standing a few feet away from the Village. "Come on guys,let's go!" said Katara. Gohan turned to follow her as he said with uncertainty, "Uh Katara..."

"Where do you think you're going?!" asked Sokka.

Katara continued to walk away without turning back as she answered her brother. "To find a Waterbender; Aang and Gohan are taking me to the North Pole!"

"We are?" asked the confused Airbender before his expression became happy again."Great!"

"This isn't how I imagined you leaving with us to the North Pole," said Gohan.

"Katara!" Sokkacalled out to his sister. "Would you really choose them over your tribe? Your own family?" asked the water tribe warrior which made the trio stop walking, Katara didn't answer but she was thinking about her brother's question. She wasn't sure if she was ready to leave her family like this. Seeing the waterbender's state of incertitude, Aang and Gohanwalked up to her.

"Katara," said Aang, getting her attention. "We don't want to come between you and your family."

"Don't worry about us, we'll be fine. Your family still needs you; you should stay with them for now," advised Gohan as he and his brother walked past Katara, feeling a bit sad.

"So, you guys are leaving the South Pole? This is goodbye?" asked the sad water tribe girl.

"Thanks for penguin sledding with us," said the bald monk.

"It was the best fun we had in a while, you know, technically speaking," said Gohan.

"Where will you both go?" asked Katara with concern.

"Guess we'll head back home and look for the Airbenders," said Aang as he patted his Sky bison before he realized something. "Wow, we haven't cleaned our room in a hundred years. Not looking forward to that." He then turned to his brother and asked. "Hey Gohan, do you think you could clean it up for me this time?"

"Nice try buddy, but Gyasto would never allow me to do that, especially after a hundred years," said the spiky haired boy before he backflipped onto Appa's saddle,. He landed beside Icarus and patted him as he smiled, which Icarus returned by licking him. Aang then hoisted himself onto Appa's head and grabbed the reins. He and Gohan looked toward the village as they prepared to go.

"Sorry for any trouble we caused," said Gohan.

"It was nice meeting everyone," said Aang.

"Let's see your beasts fly now, air boys,"mocked Sokka.

"Come on Appa, you can do it!" Aang said, trying to motivate his sky bison. "Yip yap!" Appa just gave his usual groan as he arose to his feet and turned to walk away.

"Yeah, I thought so," said Sokka.

Suddenly, a little girl with pig tails ran up where Katara was standing. She looked up at the boys with sad eyesand pleaded, "Aang, Gohan, don't go! We'll miss you."

The boys looked back at the girl in sadness. "We'll miss you too," said Aang before he turned to look at Katara. Gohan looked over to the little boys he taught and smiled. "Remember what I taught you guys; you're going to make great warriors one day. I know it!" said Gohan which made the boys even sadder that he was leaving.

"Come on, boy." said Aang as he shook the reins, ordering the bison to move. Appa slowly walked away from the Village as the little girl and Katara watched in sorrow. Soon the foreigners were out of sight and the little girl returned to the village in sadness while Katara still stared off into space. Her grandmother approached her and tried to comfort her by saying, "Katara, you'll feel better after you-"but she was interrupted by her angry grandchild.

"You happy now? There goes my one chance of becoming a Waterbender!"Katara stormed off angrily as her grandmother stared at her in sadness. Meanwhile, Sokka was ordering the little boys to prepare them for an enemy invasion. "All right men, ready our defenses! The Fire Nation could be on our shores any moment now!" One of the boys stopped and raised as he started to say, "But I gotta-"

"And no potty breaks!" shouted the annoyed leader.

Not too far away from the Village, Aang, Gohan, Appa, and Icarus were camping out while waiting for the flying beasts to fully recover so that they could fly them back to the Southern Air Temple. Appa was resting beside a snow hill with Aang lying on top of the hill, while Gohan was resting against Icarus, who was lying on his stomach asleep. Everyone was quietly waiting, although Gohan was a bit depressed to say much and Aang was a little more depressed. Eventually, Appa growled that Aang responded to, "Yeah, I liked her too."Gohan suddenly jumpedonto the hill and sat next to his brother. "I knew it." He taunted. He smiled at Aang, who looked down in depression.

"Don't be so sad, we'll see her again," said Gohan, trying to comfort his bald companion.

"You really think so?" asked a curious Aang.

"Trust me. Katara is smart, caring, determined, and a nice girl; that's the kind of friend who you don't just meet once and leave behind forever. She's a lifetime friend," said Gohan. Aang smiled before his brother said, "Of course, she might have her brother with her, which means we also have a lifetime enemy." The two boys laughed at Gohan's joke. "Thanks, Gohan," said Aang. "No problem,squirt."replied Gohan.

"You're not that much taller than me," said Aang.

"Spiky hair counts as extra height, so I am," joked Gohan.

Suddenly they heard the sound of a foghorn; they got up and jumped to the top of an ice pillar where they saw a Fire Nation Ship sailing towards the Village. "The Village!" gasped Aang as he and Gohan slid down. Aang grabbed his staff and said, "Appa, wait here!" as he started to run towards the Village. Gohan grabbed his wrist and asked, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Back to the Village," said Aang.

"We're banished; we're not wanted there," Gohan reminded his brother.

"I don't care, I have to help them. I'm the reason they're being invaded!"replied Aang as he took his wrist back. "I'm going back there and you can't stop me!"

"Then I guess I'll have to go with you!" said Gohan as he strapped his sword to his back.

"You don't have to; it could be dangerous," warned Aang.

"Katara's my friend and you're my brother! I'm not letting you leave me behind again!" said Gohan as he tightened his headband and smirked. "Besides, where there's danger, there's also a challenge and I haven't had a good fight in a hundred years! Literally!"

Icarus ran up to Gohan and pulled on his shirt to show his worry for his friend. "Don't worry Icarus, we'll be fine. Stay here with Appa and get some rest; we'll be back soon,"assured Gohan. The magic Dragon let go of his owner's shirt and walked over to Appa. "Alright then, let's go!" said Aang. "But how will we get there in time?" asked Gohan. The boys saw some penguins nearby and smiled. "I have an idea," said the Airbender.

Back at the Village, Sokka was gathering his weapons and putting on war paint, while on the ship the Fire Princes were putting on their armor as they prepare for battle. Trunks strapped his sword to his back and looked at his friend. "When we get there, let me handle the diplomacy," suggested Trunks. "Fine, as long as I get what I camefor," agreed Zuko.

Sokka stood outside the village entrance, paitently waiting for the fire nation to appear, when the ground started to rumble. Eventually, Sokka's last watch tower collapsed, much to his dismay. "Oh man!" moaned the water tribe warrior. All the villagers started panicking as the fire navy ship came into view, much to Sokka's surprise. "Oh man." The ship started to crack the ice as it got closer to the village. Sokka stood directly in it's path with his war club ready. "Sokka, get out of the way!" yelled Katara as the ship was about to ram into her brother.

The place where Sokka was standing started to crumble causing him to be moved backwarda bit. The ship stopped directly in front of the village before letting out some steam. Everyone watched anxiously as the tip of the ship that was facing upward started to descend towards the ground, revealing stairs. Soon, Zuko started to exit the ship, followed by Trunks and five fire nation soldiers.

Sokka charged at Zuko in an attempt to hit him with his war club but the fire prince just kicked him aside into the snow.

The fire nation stopped directly in front of the water tribe villagers and waited as Zuko started to look among the villagers. "Where are you hiding him?" asked Zuko as he continued to look through the villagers. His gaze finally stopped at Katara and her grandmother before he grabbed Gran Gran from Katara. "He's about this age, master of all elements!"said Zuko as he held Gran Gran. The villagers just looked at Zuko in confusion, making him release Gran Gran. Zuko's fist started to smoke as he grew angry; just as he was about to unleash a blast of fire at the villagers, his wrist was grabbed by Trunks.

"I thought we agreed that I would handle the diplomacy," said Trunks.

"Fine, whatever gets me what I want!"said Zuko as he took his hand back.

Trunks approached the villagers and spoke with a calm, gentle tone. "Sorry about that, my friends here has poor people skills," said Trunks making his fellow Prince growl. "Anyway, we're looking for someone who could be a threat to our nations conquest. He should be about over a hundred years old and the master of all elements."

"The Avatar?" said a random villager.

"So you are hiding him here! Where is he?!"Zuko demanded. Trunks held up his hand, signaling that he had this under control. "Exactly. Now please tell us where he is and we won't hurt any of you,"said thelavender haired Prince. "We don't know what you're talking about! Leave us alone!" shouted Katara. Trunks looked towards the waterbender and said,"Lying won't do you any good, you know,"

"I'm not lying; there's no one like that here! Now get lost, pretty boy!"demanded Katara.

"That's not very nice,"said Trunks.

"And neither is this!"said Sokka as he grabbed his war club and swung it at Trunks, only for it to be blocked by the fire prince's sword. Sokka started swinging his war club violenty at Trunks, but the lavender haired prince blocked every strike. "You're not bad,"said Trunks before swinging his sword and knocking the water tribe warrior's weapon from his hand. "But you're not good enough to take me yet." Trunks then struck Sokka with his palm, pushing him back a bit."I'm losing paitence,"growled Zuko as he shot a fireball at Sokka, whoquickly dodged.

Sokka then tossed his boomerang at the fire princes, but they easily dodged it. "Show no fear!"one of Sokka's students cheered as he tossed him his spear. Sokka grabbed it and charged at Zuko, but he proved his superior skills by snapping the spear with his wrist and jabbing Sokka with it. Sokka fell to the ground and rubbed his forehead as Zuko broke his spear to pieces. "Hey, was that a boomerang he threw at us?" Trunks asked Zuko.

"Yeah, so what?"asked Zuko ignorantly.

His question was soon answered when he was struck in the back of his head by Sokka's boomerang; although he was wearing a helmet, it still hurt."So they always come back," said Trunks. Now furious, Zuko created two fire daggers as he stared angrily at Sokka. Suddenly, the fire princes were knocked off their feet by two speedy creatures. Trunks quickly did a backflip and landed on his feet and saw that the sneaky attackers were a bald monk and a spiky haired teen on penguins, while Zuko landed face down, butt up where his helmet landed. The penguin sledders swerved past some cheering children, accidentally dunping snow on them but they didn't seem to mind as they still cheered.

Gohan and Aang stopped in front of the water tribe siblings before being pushed off their penguins. "Hey Katara, hey Sokka." greeted the Airbender. "Hi...Aang, hi...Gohan, thanks for coming."Sokka greeted dryly."What are friends for?"said Gohan. Their reunion ended there as Zuko rose to his feet and signaled his soldiers to surround the newcomers. Aang and Gohan stood together as they were surrounded before unleashing powerful gusts of wind that blew snow onto the fire soldiers and princes. Zuko glared at Aang as the airbender asked,"Looking for me?"

"You're the Airbender? You're the Avatar?!"asked the surprised fire prince.

"Aang?"whispered a shocked Katara.

"No way," said a surprised Sokka.

Zuko and Aang started circling each as they prepared to fight. "I've spent years preparing for this encounter,"said the fire prince as he looked at the purpose of his training."Training. Meditating. You're just a child!" Although he wasn't offended the young monk replied,"Well, you're just a teenager."Before Zuko could attack, Gohan stepped in front of his brother and grabbed the hilt of his sword. "He maybe a child, but he's still the Avatar! You shouldn't underestimate him just because he's a kid!"warned Gohan. "Oh, and just who are you?" asked the fire prince. "I'm his brother! So if you want him, you'll have to go through me!"said Gohan as he jumped into the air.

The spiky haired teen pulled out his sword as he descended onto the fire prince, ready to strike. But at the last second, Trunks suddenly appeared in front of Zuko with his sword held horizontally and blocked Gohan's attack. Gohan and Trunks glared at each other as Trunks said,"I will be your opponent!"

"I guess so," said Gohan as he jumped back.

The two energybenders stared at each other for sometime before they charged at each other. Their swords met as the two stared each other down. _"What strength this boy has; I'll have to really watch it when fighting him,"_ thought Trunks. _"This guy's strong. He managed to counter both of my strikes. I've got to be careful,"_ thought Gohan. The two continued to swing at each other while everyone watched. Eventually, Trunks knocked Gohan onto his back and tried to stab him but thespiky haired teen quickly kicked his opponent away and got back on his feet before jumping up and thrusting his blade at the lavender haired prince, who blocked the attack.

The fighters finally clashed with such force that everyone around them felt their energies. They eventually jumped away from each other. "You're pretty good. I didn't think I'd have this much fun,"said Gohan. "You're not bad either,"said Trunks."But can you do this?" Trunks started channeling energyinto his hand before firing it at Gohan's hands, knockinghis swordaway andinto the ground vertically.

The Water Tribe Village stared with wide eyes and open jaws after witnessing Trunks' attack. "He's an energybender too?!" asked Katara. "And he's with the Fire Nation; not good." said Sokka. Aang watched with worry and concern for his brother and friend. _"Be careful Gohan, please!"_ thought Aang.

Gohan looked at his opponent in shock as he grasped his right hand. "No,"he replied as he positoned his hands back and said, "But I can do this!" He thrust his hands at Trunks, sending a giant gale force attack at the prince that made him drop his sword as he was thrown into a snow hill.

Everyone cheered at that but the cheering died down when Trunks walked right out of the the snow pile. Trunks dusted the snow off his armor and gazed at Gohan. "You're pretty good, but let's your skills in hand to hand combat,"said Trunks as he entered a fighting stance. Gohan entered his own fighting stance as he prepared to resume their battle.

Gohan charged at Trunks and tried to punch him, but the prince blocked it. Trunks tried to counteraatack with his own punch, but Gohan dodged it before throwing another punch; the two combatants started trading blows until Trunks managed to land the first blow by punching Gohan in the left cheek. Gohan staggered and Trunks tried to punch him again, but Gohan ducked and punched Trunks in the chin. Trunks backflipped and landed on his feet before rushing toward his opponent and elbow bashing his face.

Gohan quickly recovered and kicked Trunks'stomach; the prince flinched before hitting Gohan across the face with a hand chop. Gohan retaliated by skull bashing Trunks; the prince struck Gohan's chest with his palm, making the young boy staggerback a bit. Trunks tried to punch his foe again but Gohan bent backward onto his hands, evading the attack, and kicked Trunks' face while doing a handstand. Trunks growled as he rushed at his opponent; Gohan quickly got on his feet and charged at Trunks. The two energybenders ended up punching each other in the facebut Trunks, being the bigger and better fighter of the two, managed to put more power into his attack and knocked Gohan a few feetaway.

Gohan slid to a stop and started breathing heavily while staring at Trunks. Trunks just took a few deep breathes as he glanced at his foe.

Everyone watched anxiously as the battle took a pause. "This isn't good. They may both be energybenders, but it looks Gohan's not going to last much longer,"said Gran Gran.

"Do you think he can still win?" asked Katara.

"I...don't know," answered the old woman without looking at her granddaughter.

Gohan glared at his opponent as blood slid from his mouth. The spiky haired fighter pulled back his arms as he started channeling a lot of energy that caused great winds to form and swirl around him. Trunks saw this and smirked. "Hit me with your best shot!" challenged the fire prince. Gohan thrust his hands at Trunks, sending a massive gale force attack at him. Trunks crossed his arms in front of his face as he was struck by the wind attack.

The attack tore off pieces of Trunks' armor as he was blown back a bit. Trunks' feet dug deeper into the snow as he tried to withstand Gohan's attack. When the attack finally died down, the sleeves of Trunks' armor were torn off from shoulders to eblows. His battle jacket was cracked and missing one strap. Trunks lowered his arms and looked at Gohan in disappointment. Gohan was breathing even heavier from his last attack.

 _"Damn it! I barely shook him! He's tougher than I thought, I don't how much longer I can keep this up! What'll I do?"_ thought Gohan.

"What a letdown you turned out to be! I expected better from you, but now it's my turn!"said Prince Trunks as he channeled energy into right hand. "Take this!" cried Trunks as he fired a big energy blast at his opponent; in panic, Gohan quickly jumped into the air to avoid the attack. The blast missed its target and crashedinto a snow pile, where it harmlessly exploded.

"Phew, close one,"said Gohan while focusing on where the blast had crashed.

"Gohan, look out!"Aang called out in warning. Gohan looked back to his opponent who had his arms extended towards the spiky haired teen andhis hands in the shape of a diamond."Now I've got you! **BURNING ATTACK!"** shouted Trunks as he fired another big energy blast at Gohan. With no time to dodge, the young energybender crossed his arms in an attempt to endure the attack. The blast hit Gohan head-on and the explosion consumed him. "It's over," said Trunks.

When the smoke from theexplosion cleared, Gohan was still in the same defensive position. His arms were a little singed and blood slid from the side of his face and his mouth. His clothes were burned a bit and he had bruises on his arms. His headband slowly slid off his head and descended towards the ground seconds before Gohan started to fall towards the ground. "Gohan!"cried Katara in fear. Aang acted quickly and created a gust of wind to cushion his brother's fall. Gohan landed safely on the snow, but he was still too hurt to move.

Aang started to run to aid his brother, but he was stopped by a blast of fire intercepting his path. The Airbender turned and saw Zuko with his hand extended towardhim. "Forget him, you've got your own problems to deal with!" said the fire prince as he launched another fireball at the Avatar. Aang started to twirl his staff, deflecting the fire blasts that Zuko was throwing at him. However, as the flames diminshed, the sparks flew close enough for the villagers to feel the wave of heat, which caused them to flinch in fear. Aang looked behind himself and saw the looks of fear on the faces of the villagers; he then turned and looked at his brother, who was struggling to try and stand, before he closed and reopened his eyes as he realized what he had to do in order to protect those he cared about.

Aang quickly defleted the remaining fire blasts and asked, "If I go with you, do you promise to leave everyone alone?"

Zuko maintained his fighting position as he thought about Aang's offer; he finally straightened up and nodded in agreement. "We agree to your terms, Avatar," said Trunks. Two soldiers came behind Aang, one grabbing his staff while the other grabbed him. The villagers watched as the fire nation marched the young Airbender towards the ship. "No, Aang! Don't do this!"cried Katara as she stepped forward a bit."Don't worry Katara; it'll be okay." Aang assured his friend. The fire soldiers pushed Aang forward as Katara watched in despair."Take care of Appa until I get back!"instructed the young monk.

"Aang, no!"said Gohan weakly.

Aang looked at his brother and said,"I'm sorry, Gohan."

The fire princes and soldiers took Aang onto the ship while Zuko ordered,"Set a course for the fire nation. I'm going home!" As the ship stared to close, Aang smiled, trying to comfort his friends, but his face turned into a frown when he saw the looks of sadness on Gohan and Katara's face. The ship eventually closed up and left.

A few hours later,women and children were doing what they could to repair their damaged home. Whether it was tending to fires or putting up tents, the water tribe was hard at work. Although it didn't look like anyone was happy. In fact, everyone was in a down mood; mostly due to the fact that Aang gave up his life for them even after the way they treated him and Gohan. Speaking of Gohan, the young fighter was in one of the tents getting his injuries treated by Gran Gran. She put ointment on his wounds and bandaged his arms.

"There, that should do it,"said the old woman.

"Thank you,"said Gohan as he stood up and put on his clothes and started to exit the tent; he staggereda bit as he tried to walk. "You should take it easy, give yourself time to heal," advised Gran Gran. "I'm fine. I can't stay here any longer, I've got to save Aang!"said Gohan. "I'm sure he can handle himself, he is the Avatar,"said the old woman, trying to calm down the boy. "True, but I'm not gonna let the fire nation take him from me," said Gohan as he exited the tent.

The spiky haired boy walked outside with his hand on his gut; he looked onward and saw his sword sticking out of the snow with his headband hanging from it. His expression changed into determination as he approached his weapon.

He grabbed his blade and put it into the sheath before he tied the headband around his forehead. "Gohan?"said a voice from behind the energybender. Gohan turned and saw Katara standing behind. "I wanted to see if you were alright,"explained the waterbender. "I'm alright, I was just about to leave, "said Gohan before he winced in pain and staggered to his knee. Katara helped him back to his feet. "You should be careful, you're still recovering,"said Katara. "Thank you Katara, but I can't wait to heal! I've got to rescue Aang!"urged Gohan as he started to walk away.

Katara grabbed his shoulder, getting his attention. "Sokka and I are going with you!"said the water tribe girl. Gohan looked back at her and said,"You don't have to do that." Katara looked at him with a determined expression. "Yes we do! Aang saved the southern water tribe by giving himself up, now we need to save him!"said Katara. "What about your brother?"asked Gohan. "I'llconvince Sokka with us,"assured Katara. Gohan smiled and said,"Thanks! I'll come back after a little while once I've gathered all our things. So be ready by then."He then walked away to where Appa and Icarus were waiting.

Moments later, Katara was standing at the edge of the ice where the fire navy ship docked while Sokka was moving back and forth carrying things. "We have to go after that ship, Sokka! Aang saved our tribe, now we need to save him!"said Katara.

"Katara, I..."Sokka started to say before he was interrupted.

"Why can't you realize that he's on our side?!"argued Katara. "If we don't help him, no one will! I know you don't like Aang or his brother but we owe him..."

"Katara!" shouted Sokka, getting her to stop talking as he gestured to the canoe. "Are yougonna talk all day or are you coming with me?""Sokka!"said Katara as she ran and hugged him. "Get in, we're going to save your boyfriend," said Sokka. "He's not my..."said Katara before Sokka stopped her and said, "Whatever."

"What do you two think you're doing?!"asked GranGran who suddenly came behind them. The two teens turned to their grandmother with nervous looks, but she just smiled and said,"You'll need these. You have a long journey ahead of you," as she held up their sleeping bags. The siblings looked at each in surprise before looking back at their grandmother."It's been so long since I 've had hope,"said Gran Gran as she faced Katara. "But you brought it back to life, my little waterbender." Katara and her grandmother shared a goodbye hug, after which Gran Gran turned to Sokka."And you, my brave warrior, be nice to your sister."

"Yeah, ok Gran,"replied Sokka as he hugged his grandmother.

"Aang is the Avatar, he's the world's only chance. You both found him for a reason. Now your destinies are intertwined with his,"said Gran Gran which made the siblings glance at each other.

"There's no way we're gonna catch a warship in a canoe,"Katara pointed out.

Suddenly the three heard a growl in the distance; they looked over and saw Appa coming toward them with Icarus on the saddle and Gohan sitting on his the bison's head, pulling the reins. "Hey guys! Are you ready to go?!"asked Gohan as he waved to the siblings."Gohan! You brought Appa!"said Katara excitedly as she ran toward the sky bison."You just love taking me out of my comfort zone, don't you?"Sokka complained as he followed hissister.

Meanwhile, on the fire navy ship, the Avatar, the fire prince, general Iroh, and the fire soldiers were standing on deck as the ship sailed through the icy waters towardthe fire nation. Aang's hands were tied behind his back while his staffwas in the hands of Prince Zuko. "This staff will make an excellent gift for my father,"said the prince as he examined the craftsmanship of Aang's weapon. "I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks." The prince then turned to address his men. "Take the Avatar to the prison hold, and take this to my quarters!"ordered Zuko as he handed the staff to his uncle.

Iroh quickly turned to the nearest guard and asked,"Hey, you mind taking this to his quarters for me?" Trunks took the staff and said,"I'll do it. I'm going to take a nap afterwards; don't bother me unless it's absolutely necessary."

The two guards marched Aang down the ship towards the prison hold, one walking in front of him and the other behind him. "So...I'm guessing you never fought an airbender before,"said Aang as they walked."I bet I could take you both with my hands tied behind my back."

"Silence!" replied the guard in three finally stopped at the door of the prison hold and the front guard brought the key to open the door. Suddenly, Aang inhaled deeply and delivered a strong lung punch attack that blew him and the guard behind him backwardwhile the front guard was slammed into the door, which knocked him out. The two were blown into the stairs and the guard was knocked out while Aang bounced off the guard and landed on deck before creating another air blast to force the door on the deck open. The young monk ran through a dark hall as he searched for his staff. One of the guards eventually got back up and shouted to the bridge guard,"The Avatar's escaped!"

Elsewhere, Appa was slowly swimming after the fire navy ship with Gohan, Katara, Sokka, and Icarus on his back. Sokka was resting against Icarus while speaking a few words in disbelief, trying to get Appa to fly."Go. Fly. Soar,"said Sokka halfheartedly. "They'll fly in time! You just need to have faith in them!"said Gohan. Katara and Gohan were sitting on Appa's head as he swam through the water. "Please Appa. We need your help, Aang needs your help!"said Katara to the bison."Come on guys, we need you both to fly again!"said Gohan.

"Up. Ascend. Elevate,"Sokka continued to command the beasts in disbelief.

"You're not helping Sokka,"said Gohan.

"Levitate?"said Sokka, shrugging his shoulders.

"Sokka doesn't believe you guys can fly, but Gohan and I do! Come on!Don't you wanna save Aang?"the waterbender tried to encourage the flying beasts as she rubbed Appa's head. Gohan turned to Icarus and said,"Come on buddy. I know you and Appa can do it! Just dig deep, find your inner strength! Don't be afraid; let your instincts take over!" Appa and Icarus groaned as if to show determination as the bison swam a bit faster and the dragon started flapping a bit."What was it that kid said?"askedSokka as he tried to remember Aang's command to get Appa to fly. "Yeehah? Wahoo? Hup-hup? Uh...Yip yap?"

The moment Sokka said that, Appa patted his massive tail against the water. The bison jumped into the sky and stayed there as it started to move through the air. "You did it, Sokka!"Katara said to her brother. "Yes! Appa's flying again!" cheered Gohan. Sokka stood at the edge of Appa's saddle as he looked down at the sea in excitement. "He's flying! He's flying! Katara, Gohan, he's..."the water tribe warrior stopped stating the obvious when he saw his companions' smug looks."I mean...big deal, he's flying."said Sokka before he returned to enjoyingthe view.

"Alright, Icarus! Now it's your turn! Let's see you fly again!"Gohan motivated his animal friend. Right on cue, Icarus started flapping his wings rapidly. The Dragon suddenly ascended into the air and flew right off Appa, appearing right next to the sky bison. "Way to go, Icarus!"cheered Katara. "He's flying too!"cried Sokka. "Alright Icarus! I knew you could do it!"said Gohan as he jumped onto Icarus' back."Icarus can fly faster than Appa, so we'll head off to the warship and help Aang! Catch up when you can!"said Gohan as Icarus flew ahead of Appa.

Back on the ship, Aang was running with great speed as he searched the ship for his staff. Upon searching, he accidentally ran into three fire soldiers who all had swords, ready to strike the Avatar. "You haven't seen my staff around, have you?"asked the airbender to the soldiers. They responded by advancing on Aang, buthe quickly evaded them by running on the walls and ceiling before saying,"Thanks anyway!" and running off, leaving the soldiers in a surprised state. Aang continued to run until he entered another hallway that was occupied by one fire soldier. The soldier immediately launched a fireball at the Avatar, who jumped over the soldier's head and used his pointy helmet to cut the ropes that bound his hands while pulling his attacker to the ground and leaving to continue looking for his staff.

Aang started opening doors, hoping to find his staff in one of the rooms. He eventually opened a door that was to the room of Zuko's uncle, which had General Iroh soundly asleep and snoring, even with all the commotion on board. "Sorry..."whispered Aang as he slowly closed the door. Aang continued to run through the halls until he passed an open door; he immediately stopped and looked inside, finally finding what he was after. "My staff!"cried Aang as he stepped into the room to retrieve his weapon. Suddenly, the door closed behind the monk, making him turn around. Soon the Avatar was face to face with the leader of the ship: Prince Zuko.

"Looks like I underestimated you,"said Zuko as he realized the boy he captured was more than just a boy.

Zuko started shooting fireballs at the Airbender but Aang quickly dodged the flaming projectiles. Aang began breathing heavily in fear as Zuko continued to strike. Using his swift moving skills, Aang managed to evade the attacks. Aang then rolled in between Zuko's legs and appeared behind him, making it harder for the fire prince to strike him. After Zuko started firing wildy at Aang, the young monk used his airbending to escape Zuko's fire blasts and create his signature air scooter. Using the air scooter for speed, Aang was now riding all around the room and moving to fast for Zuko. The fire Prince somehow managed to knock his opponent off course, causing him to crash into the wall.

Aang quickly jumped to grab the fabric on the wall and used it to wrap up Prince Zuko, binding his arms so that he couldn't firebend and allowing the monk to reclaim his staff. Zuko finally freed himself by burning off the fabric bind. Now with his staff in his hand, Aang was prepared to fight Zuko at full strength. Aang surprised Zuko by using his airbending to push Zuko and a mattress against the wall and then into the ceiling. Zuko groaned as he looked up, only to find that the Avatar had escaped him.

Aang used his airbending to open the hatch that led to the bridge. He looked around and saw the navigator at the wheel. Aang quickly ran past him and jumped out the observation deck; he joyfully threw his staff forward, making it open up and turn into his bald monk grabbed onto his glider as he attempted to flee by air.

"Aaaaah!"cried Zuko as he suddenly appeared on the bridge and jumped after the Avatar. He grabbed Aang's ankle, which unbalanced him due to Zuko's wieght adding to his own. The two benders eventually crash-landed onto the ship's deck. Now irritated, Zuko growled as both he and Aang rose to their feet. Aang grew a little afraid when he saw Zuko's look of frustration."And here I thought you'd be easy to capture!"said a sudden voice from on top of the bridge. The two looked upand saw Trunks standing at the edge; he jumped down and landed next to Zuko.

"But you're clearly not gonna make this easy, so we'll justhave to use brute force," said the prince as he entered a fighting position.

Just as the fire princes were about to attack, someone landed in front of Aang and threw his hands in the princes' direction, creating a massive airwave that pushed them back a bit. Trunks and Zuko stared in surprise when they saw the spiky haired energy bender from before. "You again!"said Trunks. "Yeah, it's me. The name's Gohan and I'm taking my brother back!"exclaimed Gohan. "Gohan! Man, am I glad to see you!"said Aang. "Likewise, Aang," said Gohan."How'd you get here?" asked Aang."Icuras started flying again, and so did Appa! The others shouldn't be too far behind!"answered Gohan. Right on cue, a loud growling sound came from behind Aang.

Looking behind himself, Aang saw his pet sky bison heading towards the ship. "What is that?"asked Zuko as he gazed at the flying animal. "A flying bison?"said Trunks. "Appa!"shouted Aang with suddenly attacked his distracted foe by launching a fireball at him. Aang twirled his staff in defense, but he was blown onto the edge of the ship. Zuko launched three more fire blasts that Aang blocked with his staff. After firing several more fireballs, Zuko managed to knock Aang's staff out of his hands. The fire prince threw a few more fireballs, which Aang dodged but he came close to falling off the side of the ship.

"Aang!" cried Gohan as his brother struggled to keep his balance. "Don't let your guard down!"yelled Trunks as he charged at Gohan and kicked him in the gut. Gohan grasped his stomach in pain as the lavender haired prince looked down at him.

Zuko threw one last fireball at the Avatar which knocked him off the ship and into the ocean, unconscious. "Aang! No!"cried Katara from on top of Appa's head. Gohan tried to get up and save his brother, but Trunks punched him in the face, causing him to fall on his back. Trunks walked over to his opponent and smirked. "You haven't fully recovered from our last fight, which means you'll be easier to beat than the last time,"said the prince. The spiky haired teen slowly rose to his feet and growled. Trunks threw another punch at him, only this time Gohan blocked it by grabbing Trunks' fist.

Katara started shouting Aang's name as Gohan continued his confrontation with Trunks. Aang sank deeper into the ocean as Katara continued to call him. "Aang! Aang! AANG!"Suddenly, Aang's eyes and tattoos started to glow as he regained consciousness.

Meanwhile on the ship, Gohan held onto Trunks' fist as his body suddenly started channeling yellow aura."What the?"asked the prince as he freed his hand and backed away from Gohan. The younger energybender's aura swarmed around his body as he stared at Trunks angrily. "I'M GONNA MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY BROTHER!"shouted Gohan. "We'll see about that!"said Trunks as he stretched his hands at Gohan. "Take this, BURNING ATTACK!"shouted the prince as he fired an energy blast at his foe.

To his surprise though, Gohan just swatted the blast into an iceberg like it was nothing. "How'd he do that?"asked the lavender haired prince. Gohan looked at the prince enraged as he said,"My turn!" The spkiy haired teen roared as he released a massive yellow dome of energy that condensed itself and flew right at prince Trunks.

The prince took the attack head-on and was knocked offthe ship by the impact. Thinking fast, Trunks grabbed his sword and stuck it into the ship before he came close to the ocean.

Gohan turned to prince Zuko, still enraged, and said. "You're next!"Just as Gohan was about to attack Zuko, he sensed something. Gohan looked behind himself and saw a big water vortex that was responding to Aang's bending while he was riding stared in shock and fear as the Avatar landed on deck. The water swirled around him before it hit Zuko and knocked him off the boat.

"Did you see what he just did?!"asked Katara to her brother about what they witnessed.

"Now that was some waterbending!"replied Sokka in amazement.

The glow on Aang's tattoos and eyes faded as he collasped; Gohan quickly caught him and helped him up. "That was incredible, Aang!" complimented Gohan, but his brother didn't responded due to exhaustion. Appa finally landed on the ship and Katara and Sokka came down to help their friends. "Aang, are you okay?!"asked the waterbender. Aang soon opened his eyes and saw his water tribe friends beside him and his brother.

"Hey Katara, hey Sokka. Thanks for coming,"Aang said weakly.

"Well I couldn't let you have all the glory," joked Sokka.

"Dropped my staff,"said the bald monk. "Got it!" said Sokka as he rushed to retrieve Aang's staff. Just as he grabbed it, Zuko grabbed the other end and tried to pull himself back on deck. Sokka pulled on the staff before jabbing Zuko in the head three times, taking his revenge and knocking the prince off the staff and onto the anchor. "Ha! That's from the water tribe!"cried Sokka before he left. Katara and Gohan helped Aang onto Appa's saddle before fire soldiers approached them. Katara started waterbending, making them stop in fear. She threw the water at them but ended up throwing it backwards and freezing her brother's legs due to lack of control.

"Katara!"complained the immoble warrior before he started beating the ice with his boomerang.

Katara quickly turned around and threw the water at the soldiers that were now behind her. When she turned back around, she saw the fire soldiers completely frozen; one of the soldier's hands was inches away from grabbing her. Katara started climbing onto Appa's saddle where Gohan and Aang were waiting as she shouted,"Hurry up Sokka!" to her still frozen brother.

"I'm just a guy with a boomerang! I didn't ask for all this flying and magic!"complained Sokka as he finally freed himself and climbed onto the bison. "Yip yap! Yip yap!"yelled Sokka, getting Appa to ascend into the air.

While this was happening, Iroh finally woke up and came on deck, where he saw the flying bison. "Huh?"said the old man as he rubbed his eyes while Appa continued to flee. He then helped Prince Zuko get back on deckas Trunks finally climbed back with his sword. When the three saw the Avatar and his friends leaving, Zuko ordered, "Shoot them down!" The General and his nephew fired a big blast of flames at the bison while Trunks shot his own energy blast at the bison. As the three attacks got closer, Aang and Gohan jumped to the back of Appa's saddle and grabbed Aang's staff. They swung it together, creating a big air wave that redirected the three attacks into the side of an ice cliff. A small avalanche was created and collasped onto the ship. Zuko and Trunks stared in shock as their ship was now stuck in ice.

The four teens laughed as they smoothly flew away from the fire nation crew.

Moments later, Zuko and Trunks stared off where their enemies had escaped. Iroh soon appeared behind them and said,"Good news for the Fire Lord. The Fire Nation's greatest threat is just a little kid." Zuko turned to face his uncle and said,"That kid,Uncle, just did this," as he gestured to his damaged ship. "He's clearly more powerful than he looks," said Trunks. "We can't underestimste him again."

"And we won't!"Zuko said before he addressed his soldiers."Dig the ship out and follow them!"The fire prince turned and saw his soldiers trying to defrost their frozen comrades. "As soon as you're done with that,"Zuko quickly added. Trunks stared into the horizon withonly one thought in his head. _"You've got a lot of power, I hope we fight again...Gohan."_

Back with the gang, Aang, Katara and Sokka were flying on Appa while Gohan flew right next to them on Icarus. Aang looked saddened while Katara was full of energy and questions. "How'd you do that? With thewater? It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!"asked theWater Tribe girl.

"I don't know. I just, did it,"replied theairbender.

"And Gohan, what was that thing you did to Trunks?"asked Katara as she turned towardthe spiky haired boy.

"I'm not sure. I just got angry, I felt a boost in power, and I used it," answered the energybender.

Katara looked back toward Aang and asked, "Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar, Aang?" The Avatar looked away in sadness as he replied,"Because...I never wanted to be."Gohan flew right next to Aang and placed his hand on his brother's shoulder, tryng to comfort him. "When Aang became the Avatar, things started to change. Now things have changed even more than we know; it's not easy to accept,"said Gohan.

"But Aang, the world's been waiting for the Avatar to return and put an end to this war," said Katara.

"How am I going to do that?"asked the airbender.

"According to legend, you need to master water, then earth, then fire, right?" asked Katara.

"That's what the monks told me,"replied Aang.

"Well, if we go to the North Pole, you can master waterbending,"said Katara.

"We can learn it together,"encouraged Aang as his mood lightened.

"And Sokka, I'm sure you'll get to knock some firebender heads along the way,"said Katara, hoping to include her brother. "I'd like that. I'd really like that," said Sokka. Katara then turned to Gohan and asked, "What about you, Gohan? What do you want out of this journey?""A quest like this is bound to get us into plenty of fights along the way, and the more I'm in, the stronger I'll get. Strong enough to protect my friends. I'm in!"replied Gohan.

"Then we're in this together,"said Katara.

"Okay. But before I learn waterbending, we have some serious business to attendto!" said Aang with his spirits now lifted. He opened a scroll to show a mapof the world and laid it across the saddle for everyone to see. "Before we make it to the North Pole, we have to make a few stops. Here, here and here," said Aang as he pointed to three islands on the map.

"What's there?" asked Katara.

"Here, we'll ride the happy llamas," explained Aang as he pointed to the islands on the map. His excitement grew with each point, as did Gohan's. "Then way over here, we'll surf on the backs of the giant koi-fish. Then back over here, we'll ride the hog-monkeys. They don't like people riding on them, but that's what makes it fun!"

"This is going to be one wild journey,"said Gohan as the gang flew into the sunset.

 **A/N:Phew! Finally finished the 2nd chapter. I've had a lot of fun writing this chapter, so I hope you'll enjoy reading it. I'm sorry to say that I can't post my chapters weekly or monthly due to some circumstances, but I'll still post my chapters, just randomly. To all those who followed or favorited this fanfic, thank you for your support. I already have a pairing in mind for Gohan and even Trunks but I'll let that be a surprise. Try to guess if you want, it'll be what you least expect. Also Gohan and Trunks aren't the only DBZ characters I'll use, there are others like Baba and Pigoro and...(oops, spoilers!) Anyway keep reading, it'll only get more interesting!**

 **In the meantime, I recommend these fanfics:**

 **RWBBY-The Shapeshifter by Sparkydragon98 (this fanfic recently got a new chapter!)**

 **TheKunoichi twins by Sally B. Mcgil**

 **Hunt for the Saiyan Hybrids by Antihero627:)**

 **The New Face of Justice by Comorep677**

 **Until then, TTFN! AntiHero out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello to all my readers, thank you for your reviews! Now it's time to begin the third chapter, and to those of you who are afraid I'll stop writing this story before I finish it, don't worry, I won't! NOT NOW, NOT EVER!**

 **Disclaimer- I don't own Dragon ball Z or Avatar-The Last Airbender**

 **Chapter** **3-**

It was a brand new day. The sun was rising while everyone aside from Sokka, who was still sleeping, was packing their things. The gang decided to take a trip to the Southern Air Temple and see how much it had changed over the years. Gohan was excited and Aang was extremely excited as he spoke to Katara while tightening Appa's reins.

"Wait till you see it, Katara," said Aang. "The Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world."

"Aang, I know you're excited, but it's been a hundred years since you and Gohan have been home," said Katara.

"That's why I'm so excited!" said Aang.

"It's just that a lot can change in that time," said Katara.

"I know, but we need to see it for ourselves," said Aang.

"Yeah. A hundred years is a long time to be away from home; we can't wait to see it again!" said Gohan as he placed his stuff on Appa's saddle and climbed onto Icarus. "Alright, we're ready!"

The Avatar jumped to the ground and walked over to where his sleeping friend was. "Wake up, Sokka! Air Temple, here we come!" cried Aang as he tried to wake up his friend. "Unh. Sleep now, temple later," groaned Sokka as he went back to sleep. Aang frowned at this before he grew an evil grin. He picked up a stick and approached the sleeping warrior. "Sokka, wake up! There's a prickle snake in your sleeping bag!" cried Aang as he poked Sokka with the stick. "AAAAH! Get it off! Get it off!" cried Sokka as he freaked out and jumped around while still in his sleeping bag.

The water tribe warrior suddenly tripped and fell over, which made his sister and Gohan laugh. Realizing he he had been tricked, Sokka growled while Aang said, "Great! You're awake; let's go!"

"You had that coming, pal," said Gohan.

Elsewhere, Zuko's ship had just docked at a fire nation port. It was the smallest out of all the other ships and the most damaged thanks to his encounter with the Avatar. As Zuko, Trunks, and Iroh walked down the ship's stairs, Zuko gave instructions to his family.

"Uncle, I want the repairs made as quickly as possible," said Zuko. "I don't want to stay here too long and risk losing his trail."

"You mean the Avatar?" asked Iroh.

"Don't mention his name on these docks!" warned Zuko as he faced his uncle.

"He's right, Iroh. If people find out that he's alive, then every firebender will be after him since he's the only one who can stop the fire nation," said Trunks.

"Precisely. That will make it harder for us to find him and capture him, and I don't want anyone getting in the way," said Zuko.

"Getting in the way of what... Prince Zuko?" asked a stern voice from behind the Fire Lord's son. The three looked and saw a firebender walking toward them; they immediately recognized him. "Captain Zhao," greeted Zuko. "It's Commander now," corrected Zhao before he turned to Iroh and bowed. "General Iroh, great hero of our nation,"

"Retired General," said Iroh humbly while bowing back.

"And Prince Trunks, Iroh's adoptive son and Zuko's lieutenant. It's a pleasure to see you again," greeted Zhao.

"The honor is mine, Commander Zhao. I've heard great things," said Trunks.

"Rumors, I'm sure, though it seems my reputation proceeds me," said Zhao. "But where are my manners, have you met my lieutenant?"

The three looked behind the Commander and saw someone approaching them. This person had long spiky black hair and black eyes. He wore armor similar to the lavender haired prince, except it was all black aside from the boots and gloves which were green. On his forehead was a gold crown that had an emerald stone in the center; this was someone they all knew too well.

"Greetings, General Iroh and Prince Zuko," said the lieutenant.

"Brody?!" said Iroh and Zuko in surprise.

"It's lieutenant Brute," corrected Brody.

"Trying to live up to your father's legacy and be like him, huh?" asked Trunks.

"Yes, something you will never do," said Brody. "It's been so long, Trunks,"

"Yes it has, Brody," growled the Prince in return.

"I see that your eye has healed quite nicely since the last time we saw each other," mocked Brody as he smirked. Trunks glared at him while his ki started to show from his hands. "Lieutenant Brute, show some respect!" said Zhao as he placed his hand on Brody's shoulder. "The Fire Lord's family are welcome guests anytime, and Trunks is a part of that family."

"Yes Commander," said Brody.

"So, what brings you to my harbor?" asked the Commander.

"Our ship is being repaired," replied Iroh as he gestured to Prince Zuko's ship. "That's quite a bit of damage," said Zhao. "Yes, you won't believe what happened..." said Zuko. He then paused before saying, "Uncle! Tell Commander Zhao what happened!" "Yes, I will do that," said Iroh, although he was caught off guard. "It was incredible... what, did we crash or something?" asked Iroh as he looked back at Zuko. "Yes, right into an Earth Kingdom ship," replied Zuko which made Trunks smack his forehead, which didn't go unnoticed by Brody.

"Really? You must regale me with all the thrilling details," said Zhao as he moved closer to Zuko. "Join me for a drink?"

"Sorry, but we have to go," said Zuko as he and Trunks tried to leave. Iroh quickly put his hands on the Princes' shoulders and said, "Prince Zuko, Prince Trunks, show Commander Zhao and Lieutenant Brute your respect. We would be honored to join you." Zhao and Brody smirked at Iroh's reply. The three walked off, leaving Zuko and Trunks behind while Iroh asked, "Do you have any tea? It's my favorite."

Prince Zuko growled and released some flames as he started to follow before Trunks pulled him back and whispered, "I'll go back to the ship and give your instructions to the crew. Just play along and try to stay calm, the sooner we get this over with and our ship is repaired, the sooner we can leave and return to our mission." Trunks turned and walked toward the ship while Zuko followed Iroh, Zhao, and Brody.

Back in the sky, the gang was flying above the clouds toward the Southern Air Temple. Aang and Katara were on Appa's head, Sokka was on the saddle, and Gohan was on Icarus. As they flew, Sokka grasped his belly when it growled, indicating his hunger. "Hey stomach, be quiet, I'm trying to find us some food," said Sokka as he glared at his gut. The water tribe warrior pulled out a bag and started digging in it, only for a few bits of meat to fall into his hand. "Hey! Who ate all my blubbered seal jerky?!" asked Sokka.

"Oh, that was food?" asked Aang before he said. "Sorry Sokka, I used it to start the campfire last night."

"You what?!" asked Sokka before he groaned, "Unh! No wonder the flames smelled so good."

"Yeah, I almost tried to eat it," said Gohan. Just then, the group saw three mountains above the clouds. "It's the mountain range, we're almost there!" cried Aang with excitement. "Aang, before we get to the temple, I want to talk to you and Gohan about the Airbenders," said Katara seriously. "What about them?" asked the boys. "Well, I just want you to be prepared for what you might see," warned Katara. "The Fire Nation is ruthless; they killed my mother, they could've done the same to your people."

"Just because no one has seen an airbender doesn't mean the fire nation killed them all; they probably escaped," Aang argued.

"I don't know, what if Katara's right? No one's seen an airbender for a century; that's about as long as the war," commented Gohan. "Although, the Air Nation has always been separate from the world; maybe the airbenders thought it was better to distance themselves from society until it ended."

"That's possible, and that's probably what happened," agreed Aang.

"I know it's hard to accept..." started Katara before she was interrupted.

"You don't understand Katara, the only way to get to an Air Temple is a flying bison, or in Gohan's case Icarus, and I doubt the Fire Nation has either of those. Right Appa?" asked Aang as he petted his animal friend. Appa growled in agreement. The flying beasts swerved around the mountains until they flew over it and saw the Air Temple. "There it is, the Southern Air Temple!" said Aang. The water tribers stared in awe. "Aang, it's amazing!" said Katara. "We're home guys, we're home," said Aang, clearly filled with joy. "It's good to be back home again," said Gohan while he thought, _"Could the Fire Nation really have found this place?"_

Meanwhile, back at Commander Zhao's harbor, the Commander was looking at a map and explaining the conditons of the war to Zuko, Trunks, and Iroh while they were drinking some tea. Actually, the Princes were just sitting down while the old general was looking at some weapons of war. The Commander had sent his lieutenant away to take care of some important matters which made Trunks a little suspicious.

"And by years end, the Earth Kingdom Capital will be under our rule," said Zhao. "The Fire Lord will finally claim victory in this war."

"If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him willingly, then he is a fool!" said Zuko.

 _"That's for sure,"_ thought Trunks.

"Two years at sea have done little except temper your tongue," commented Zhao.

"He has a point," stated Trunks. "The world still resists the Fire Nation; this war still has a long way to go before being over."

"True, but I doubt the Earth Kingdom Capital will be much of a problem to our forces," assured Zhao. "So tell me, how's your search for the Avatar going?" There was a sudden noise of a loud crash from behind the Commander; he turned to see Iroh with a surprised face as he accidentally dropped the weapons. "My fault entirely," apologized Iroh.

"We haven't found him yet," replied Zuko.

"Did you really expect to?" asked Zhao. "The Avatar died a hundred years ago, along with every other Airbender," the Commander continued to talk until he noticed Zuko looking away from him in disagreement, which made him smirk. "Unless you found some evidence that the Avatar is alive?"

"No, nothing," answered Zuko again.

"Prince Zuko, the Avatar is the only one who can stop the Fire Nation from winning this war; if you or Trunks have an ounce of loyalty left, you'll tell me what you found!" urged the Commander.

" **We** haven't found anything worth mentioning to you, Commander," said Trunks. "So don't worry, we're still looking and if he's out there, we'll find him."

"Exactly. But it's like you said, the Avatar probably died a long time ago," said Zuko. "C'mon Uncle, Trunks, we're going." As the Princes got up and started to walk away, the guards at the door suddenly crossed spears, which blocked them from leaving. Suddenly, Lieutenant Brute walked in with a smirk on his face; he took a quick glance at Trunks as he approached his Superior. "Commander Zhao, we interrogated the crew as you instructed," reported Brody.

"And?" asked Zhao.

"They refused to talk at first; one of them eventually confirmed that Prince Zuko and Prince Trunks had the Avatar in custody, but he escaped," replied Brody as his smirk grew wider.

Zhao smirked as well, then approached the Princes and asked, "Now remind me again, how exactly was your ship damaged?" The Princes looked down in defeat as they prepared to tell the truth.

Back at the Air Temple...

Appa and Icarus were resting at the bottom of the mountain while the gang was walking toward the temple at the top. Aang and Gohan were running with excitement while Katara and Sokka were treading behind them. "So where do I get something to eat around here?" asked Sokka as he grasped his stomach and made a face.

"You're lucky enough to be one of the first outsiders to ever visit an Air Temple, and all you can think about is food?" asked Katara.

"I'm just a simple guy with simple needs," replied Sokka.

The four travelers eventually stopped at the edge of the mountain and looked down. "That's where we would play air ball with our friends," explained Aang as he pointed to different spots on the mountain. "And over here is where the bison would sleep, and..." the monk suddenly stopped talking and sighed as he stared at his worn out home. Gohan also looked a bit depressed. "What's wrong?" asked Katara.

"This place used to be full of monks, and lemurs, and bisons; now it's just a bunch of weeds," said Aang.

"The vegetation has died, the temple is in ruins, and it looks like no one's been here for decades," said Gohan.

"I can't believe how much things have changed," said Aang.

The water tribe siblings looked at each other before they walked up to Aang and Gohan. "So...this air ball game, how do you play?" asked Sokka. The boys' faces quickly changed into smirks. A few minutes later, Sokka was standing at one of the goal posts while Aang stood at the other with the air ball in his hand. In between them were several long poles. Gohan and Katara were watching from the sidelines.

"This won't take long," said Gohan.

Sokka stood at the goal post, ready for whatever move the Airbender would make. Aang suddenly tossed the ball into the air, which confused the water tribesman. Aang just stood there with his eyes closed and smiled as he awaited the ball's descent. He then opened one eye in time to see the ball descending, and with a mighty air kick, he sent the ball ricocheting off the poles until it hit Sokka in the stomach and pushed him through the goal.

"Called it!" said Gohan. "Nice shot, bro!"

"Aang, Seven! Sokka, Zero!" laughed Aang.

"Making him feel better is putting me in a world of hurt," moaned Sokka.

"My turn!" said Gohan as he picked up the ball. "Let me show you how it's done."

The spiky haired teen jumped onto Sokka's goal post and kicked the ball towards his brother. Aang smiled to show that he accepted the challenge and kicked the ball back at Gohan. The ball continued to bounce back and forth off the poles as the brothers continued to send it to each other.

"Go Aang!" cheered Katara.

"Go Gohan!" cheered Sokka.

Gohan eventually hit the ball so hard, it bounced off the poles faster than the monk could react, forcing him to dodge it as it went through his goal. "That's how it's done!" said Gohan as he and his brother jumped off the goal post to get the ball. Sokka muttered, "Show off," as he turned his head to pout. The water tribesman then noticed something familiar in the snow. He walked over to the small object which turned out to be a damaged fire soldier helmet. "Hey Katara, check this out," Sokka called to his sister.

"Fire Nation!" said Katara when she saw the helmet.

"We should tell them," suggested Sokka.

"Aang! Gohan! There's something you need to see!" called Katara to the boys.

"Ok," said Aang as he and Gohan approached the water tribe siblings while playing catch with the air ball. Katara looked at the boys with concern before looking at the helmet and then back at the boys. She quickly used her waterbending to cover the helmet and Sokka with snow as the boys reached her."What is it?" asked Aang. "Uh, just a new waterbending move I learned," lied Katara. "Great, just keep practicing and you'll be a master waterbender in no time!" said Gohan.

"But enough practicing, we have a whole temple to see!" said Aang.

The two boys left as Sokka got up and dusted off the snow. "You know you can't protect them forever," said Sokka to his sister. Katara didn't answer her brother as she followed after her friends.

Moments later, the four teens made it to the temple gate. Aang and Gohan raced ahead while Katara and Sokka stayed behind to talk in private. "Katara! Firebenders were here; you can't pretend they weren't!" said Sokka. "I can for Aang and Gohan's sake," agrued Katara. "If they find out the Fire Nation invaded their home, they'll be devastated."

"Hey guys! We want you to meet someone!" said Aang.

The Airbender and the Energybender stood in front a statue of an old man with the same tattoos as Aang and in a meditative position. "Who's that?" asked Sokka.

"Monk Gyatso, the greatest Airbender in the world. He raised both me and Aang. He taught us everything we know," explained Gohan as he and Aang bowed to Gyatso's statue.

 _Flashback-Monk Gyatso was busy baking cakes while talking to his students: Gohan and Aang. Gohan was actually paying attention but Aang seemed distracted by something on his mind. "But the true secret is in the gooey center," said Gyatso as he finished his cake with airbending and placed it beside four others._

 _"I see," replied Gohan as he chowed down on one of the cakes._

 _"Hmm," said Aang._

 _"My ancient cake making techniques aren't the only things on your mind, are they?" asked Gyatso as he addressed Aang._

 _"He's still thinking about what you and the monks told him, master," said Gohan._

 _"This whole Avatar thing, maybe the monks made a mistake," suggested Aang._

 _"The only mistake they made was telling you before you turned sixteen," said Gyatso. "But we can't concern ourselves with what was, we must act on what is!"_

 _"But Gyatso, how do I know if I'm ready for this?" asked Aang._

 _"Your questions will be answered when you're old enough to enter the Air Temple Sanctuary," replied Gyatso. "Inside you will meet someone who will guide you on your journey."_

 _"Who is it?" asked Aang excitedly._

 _"When you are ready, he will reveal himself to you," replied Gyatso which made Aang groan._

 _"Guess he'll have to be paitent," thought Gohan as he finished his cake._

 _"Now, are you boys going to help me with these cakes or not?" asked the old monk. The boys looked at each other before smiling and replying, "Alright." The three took similar positons; the master stood in front of two cakes while the pupils each stood in front of one. Gyatso and Aang moved their arms and created air spheres. "One, two, three!" said Gyatso as he and Aang threw their air spheres at the cakes, launching them into the air. Gohan didn't make an air sphere, but he copied his master's movement while channeling ki into his palms; this allowed him to create a gust of wind that lauched his cake into the air with the others._

 _The cakes landed on the other four monks, who were meditating at the time. After being pelted with desserts, lemurs flew at the monks and started eating the cakes off of them. Seeing this made the three benders that threw the cakes laugh. "What a waste of good food, but worth it!" sighed Gohan. "Yeah!" agreed Aang._

 _"Your aims have improved greatly, my young pupils," complimented Gyatso as the boys bowed to him and he patted their heads. Flashback ends._

Aang and Gohan stood up and looked at the statue of their master in sadness. "You guys must miss him," Katara said. "Yeah," said Aang. The young monk walked away while his brother continued to stare at the statue. _"What has become of you, master?"_ thought Gohan before he started to follow Aang. "Where are you guys going?" asked Katara. "To the Air Temple Sanctuary. There's someone I'm ready to meet," replied Aang. Katara looked at her brother who shrugged before they both went after their friends.

Soon the four found themselves in front of a large wooden door with the Air Nation symbol on it. "But Aang, no one could've survived in there for a hundred years," said Katara. "It's not impossible. I survived in the Iceberg for that long and Gohan survived in the spirit world for that long," said Aang.

"Good point," agreed Katara.

"I wonder who's in there?" asked Gohan.

"Who knows, but whoever's in there might help me figure out this Avatar stuff," said Aang.

"And whoever's in there might have some delicious pure meat!" said Sokka hungrily. He then ran to the door, expecting it to open, only for him to crash into it. The warrior pushed against the door but it remained closed. "I don't suppose you guys have a key," said Sokka as he looked toward his friends. "The key, Sokka, is Airbending," replied Aang.

The Avatar then took a deep breath. He took a step forward while using his hands to bend the air into the two pipes on the door. When he stopped, the three air insignias on the door flipped over while releasing air out. The door unlocked and split open.

"Hello, anyone home?" asked Aang. The four walked into the sanctuary, disappearing into the darkness.

Back at the Fire Nation harbor, Zuko and Trunks had just finished telling the story of their encounter with the Avatar and Gohan to Commander Zhao. Two fire soldiers stood behind Prince Zuko while Brody stood beside Trunks, and Iroh was sitting at the table drinking tea. Zhao was pacing as he allowed everything he was told to sink in.

"So a fourteen year old boy bested you and your firebenders?" Zhao asked Zuko. He turned to Trunks and asked, "And you allowed a fourteen year old ki user to get the jump on you in battle even with your experince and training? You're both more pathetic than I thought."

"I'm not surprised at this, sir. I always knew that these two would screw up the one mission that could get them home," mocked Brody.

Trunks growled while Zuko remained calm. "We underestimated him once, but it will not happen again," assured Zuko. "No it will not, because you won't be getting a second chance," said Zhao. "Commander Zhao, we've been hunting the Avatar for two years and..." Zuko started to say. "And you've failed!" shouted the Commander as he released a wave of fire in front of Zuko. "Capturing the Avatar is too important to leave in the hands of two teenagers; he's mine now!"

Zuko tried to lunge at Zhao, but he was held back by the fire soldiers. Trunks grabbed his the hilt of his sword, but before he could make a move, he was pinned against the wall by the arm of Brody. "Don't try it, pretty boy!" said Brody.

"Do you really think you can stop us?" asked Trunks.

"We can try," replied Brody.

The Commander turned to leave as he ordered his men. "Keep them here." Now angry, Zuko kicked the table his uncle was sitting at, knocking it over and spilling the tea. "More tea, please," requested Iroh.

Back at the Air Temple Sanctuary, the gang entered the sanctuary expecting to find someone, but instead they found numerous statues, all lined together that led from the bottom of the sanctuary to the top. "Statues?! That's it?! Where's the meat?!" moaned Sokka. "Who are all these people?" asked Katara. "I'm not sure, but I feel like I know them somehow," replied Aang as he stopped in front of one of the staues. "Look, that one's an Airbender." "And this one's a waterbender," said Katara as she observed the statues. "They're lined up in a pattern: Air, Water, Earth, and Fire."

"That's the Avatar's cycle," said Aang.

"Of course, they're Avatars. All these people are your past lives, Aang," said Katara.

"Wow, they're so many," said Aang as he continued to observe the statues.

"Past lives? Katara, you really believe in that stuff?" asked an unbelieving Sokka.

"It's true; when the Avatar dies, he's reincarnated into the next nation of the cycle," said Katara.

"Ok. There are statues, but no one's here, Aang was supposed to meet someone that could teach him to be the Avatar. I don't think Gyatso meant these statues," said Gohan. "What do you think, Aang? Aang?" The Airbender didn't respond, as he was staring at a specific statue. He seemed to be in a trance as he continued to look upon one of his past lives. "Aang, snap out of it!" yelled Katara as she shook the young monk.

"Huh?" said Aang as he awakened from his trance.

"You ok Bro?" asked Gohan.

"I'm fine," replied Aang.

"Who is that?" asked Katara as she looked at the statue Aang was staring at.

"That's Avatar Roku, the Avatar before me," explained Aang.

"You were a Firebender? No wonder I didn't trust you when we first met," said Sokka.

"I'm pretty sure you were just paranoid," said Gohan.

"There's no writing, how do you know his name?" Katara asked Aang.

"I'm not sure, I just know it somehow," said Aang.

"You just couldn't get any weirder," groaned Sokka.

The four suddenly heard a noise from behind them. They turned around and saw the shadow of someone approaching. Aang and Katara quickly hid behind one statue while Gohan amd Sokka hid behind another. The shadow grew larger as the intruder got closer. Sokka brought out his war club and Gohan grabbed the hilt of his sword. "Firebender; nobody make a sound," Sokka ordered in a whisper. "You're making a sound," argued Katara before she was shushed by the three boys. As the shadow stopped right in front of the statue, Gohan and Sokka prepared to attack. "That Firebender won't know what hit him," whispered Sokka. The two armed warriors jumped out from behind the statue, only to see that the large shadow beloged to a small creature with bat like ears and wings, black and white fur, big green eyes, and a long tail.

Is that a...?" started Gohan.

"Lemur!" shouted Aang when he saw the animal.

"Dinner!" said Sokka droolingly.

"Don't listen to him; you're gonna be my new pet," said Aang

"Not if I catch him first!" challenged Sokka.

The two jumped at the lemur, which made it shriek and run away. Aang and Sokka quickly chased after the animal, leaving their siblings behind as they left the sanctuary. "Well, that happened," said Gohan. The lemur continued to run as the two pursued it. "Wait, come back!" cried Aang. "I wanna eat you!" yelled Sokka. The two chased the animal down a hallway. Sokka got ahead of Aang until the airbender started running faster. The Water Tribe Warrior attempted to trip his friend with his club, but the Avatar avoided the assualt by running up the walls while laughing. He then launched an air ball at Sokka which knocked him off his feet. The lemur ran all the way to a balcony and started flying away. Aang jumped off the balcony and used his airbending to follow the lemur down the cliff.

"Hey, no fair!" yelled Sokka from the balcony.

At the Fire Nation harbor, the Commander and his lieutenant were walking toward the tent where their guests were waiting. "My search party is ready. Once I'm out to sea, my guards will escort you back to your ship, and you'll be free to go," Zhao informed his guests. "Why? Are you worried we're going to try and stop you?" asked Zuko. The Commander and his Lieutenant laughed at the prince's question. "You? Stop me? Impossible!" said Zhao. "Don't underestimate us Zhao! We will capture the Avatar before you!" argued Zuko as he stood up. "Prince Zuko, that's enough!" said Iroh.

"You can't compete with me! I have hundreds of warships at my command, and I have the son of the most powerful energy bender in our nation as my lieutenant!" said Zhao. "But you, you're just a banished prince! No home, no allies, all you have with you is another banished prince who is also the weakest energy bender in our nation! Your own father doesn't even want either of you1"

"You're wrong, Zhao! Once I deliver the Avatar to my father, he will welcome me home with honor, and restore my rightful place on the throne!" argued Zuko. "And my lieutenant will get the respect he deserves for aiding me!"

"If your father really wanted you home, he would have let you return by now, Avatar or no Avatar. But in his eyes you're a failure and a disgrace to the fire nation and so is Trunks," said Zhao.

"That's not true!" said Zuko.

"You both have the scars to prove it," mocked Zhao.

"Maybe you'd like one to match!" challenged Zuko as he got in Zhao's face.

"Is that a challenge?" asked Zhao.

"An agni kai, at sunset!" said Zuko.

"Very well. It's a shame your father won't be here to watch me humiliate you; I suppose your uncle and Trunks will do," said Zhao before he left. Brody smirked at the prince and said, "Big mistake" before he followed his Commander. Trunks walked up to Zuko and placed his hand on his shoulder and said, "You shouldn't have let him get to you." "Prince Zuko, have you forgotten what happened the last time you dueled a master?" asked Iroh.

"I will never forget!" replied Zuko.

Back at the temple, the lemur landed at the bottom of the temple, as did Aang. The airbender jumped at the animal, but it dodged him and ran behind a few curtains. "Hey, come back!" Aang called to the lemur as he followed it through the curtain. "Come on out, little lemur, that hungry guy won't bother you anymore," said Aang as he looked around for the lemur bat. Aang continued to wander until he walked through more curtains and saw something disturbing; lying on the ground of snow were dozens of worn out Fire nation armors and the skeleton of an air nomad.

"Firebenders? They were here?" asked Aang as he couldn't believe his eyes. He then looked at the corpse of the monk; after seeing the old necklace around its neck, he recognized the skeleton. "Gyatso," said Aang before he fell to his knees and started to sob.

"Hey Aang, did you find my dinner yet?" asked Sokka after he somehow managed to scale the mountain and follow Aang to this location. He looked through the curtain to see his friend crying. "Aang, I wasn't really gonna eat the lemur, ok?" said Sokka as he tried to cheer up Aang. "Oh man!" said Sokka as he saw the air nomad's skeleton and realized why his friend was upset. "Come on Aang, everything will be alright. Let's get out of here," said Sokka as he placed his hand on the airbender's shoulder, trying to comfort him. Suddenly, Aang's eyes and tattoos started to glow as he grew angry, which made Sokka gasp.

At the sanctuary, Gohan and Katara were still looking at statues when the eyes of each started to glow, all the way to the top of the sanctuary. "Uh, are the statues supposed to do that?" asked Katara. "I don't think so," replied Gohan before both he and Katara shouted, "Aang!" and ran off to find their siblings.

In the Earth Kingdom, the peoples' eyes on a wall painting started to glow as well. The result was the same at the Northern Water Tribe where the statue at the top of a building lit up, and the Fire Nation Temple where its statue's eyes started glowing. "Send word to the Fire Lord immediately," said one Fire Sage to another. "The Avatar has returned!"

At the Air Temple, Aang stood there in the Avatar State as he created a giant air sphere around himself. "Aang! Come on, snap out of it!" shouted Sokka as he tried to reach his friend. The force of Aang's wind blew Sokka away and destroyed the hut they were in. Gohan and Katara soon arrived and joined Sokka.

"What happened?!" asked Katara.

"He found out Firebenders killed Gyatso!" replied Sokka.

"Firebenders were here?! Gyatso's dead?!" asked Gohan.

"Afraid so, now Aang's gone mad crazy!" said Sokka.

"Oh no, it's his Avatar spirit! He must've triggered it! I'm gonna try and calm him down!" said Katara.

"Well do it, before he blows us off the mountain!" warned Sokka.

The Southern Waterbender slowly approached the Avatar as she fought against his strong winds. At some point she fell over and was almost blown away, but she was quickly grabbed by the spiky haired energy bender, who stuck his sword in the ground in order to keep himself in place. "Stay close to me!" said Gohan as Katara wrapped her amrs around him. The energy bender then created a yellow dome of energy, allowing him to move closer to his brother without being affected by Aang's winds. Aang slowly began to ascend as his gale force increased.

At the Fire harbor, it was sunset which meant it was time for the Agni Kai between Prince Zuko and Commander Zhao. On the arena, Zuko was facing his Uncle and Trunks while Zhao faced his lieutenant and soldiers. Both combatants were on one knee as they prepared to fight.

"Remember your firebending basics Prince Zuko; they are your greatest weapons!" instructed Iroh.

"I refuse to lose to him!" said Zuko.

"Then don't! Show him why you're the Fire Prince and the next Fire Lord!" said Trunks.

"I will!" said Zuko as he stood up and turned to face his opponent. Zhao soon stood up and said, "This will be over quickly." The gong was rung and the two firebenders took their stances. After a few minutes of waiting, Zuko started the fight by launching a fireball at Zhao who easily dodged it. Zuko fired another one at Zhao, which he dodged. The Prince continued to throw fire blasts at the Commander; Zhao crossed his arms and deflected the fire blasts as he smirked. Zuko started breathing hard before he kicked a fireball at his opponent, but Zhao deflected that as well.

Zuko sent one more fire blast at Zhao, which he deflected by splitting it in half with his hands. Zuko took a step back as Zhao prepared to attack. "Basic, Zuko! Breath is root!" shouted Iroh. Zhao stomped forward and sent a fire blast at Zuko which he managed to block but it still pushed him back a bit. The same thing happened three more times before Zuko was knocked onto his back. "Zuko, get up!" cried Trunks. The Prince struggled to sit up when he saw Zhao jump in the air and land in front of him. "Finish him, Commander!" said Brody. The Commander fired another blast at the downed Prince. Reacting quickly, Zuko moved his legs in a spiral motion, allowing him to dodge the fire attack and knock Zhao off his feet while getting back on his own.

The Fire Prince smirked as he now knew the Commander"s weakness and was ready to exploit it. He sent a wave of flames from his feet to Zhao's which made the Commander stumble backward. Zuko repeated the same move, making Zhao stumble again. "You've got him now, Zuko!" said Trunks as he and Iroh smiled. Zuko continued to launch strong flames at his opponent, making him stumble backward until Zhao eventually fell on his back.

Zuko approached Zhao, intending to end the duel, but hesitated. Zuko just stared at Zhao instead of attacking. "Do it!" ordered Zhao. The Prince shot one fire blast at his fallen foe, which left a scorch mark on the ground inches away from Zhao's face. "That's it? Your father raised a coward!" said Zhao.

"Next time you get in our way, I promise I won't hold back!" said Zuko before he turned and walked away.

The Commander slowly stood up before he sent a large fire attack at Zuko. Although the Prince didn't seem to notice, the attack was deflected and Zhao's foot was grabbed by General Iroh. The Dragon of the West pushed the Commander away as Zuko looked behind him. Zuko was about to attack Zhao but Trunks stopped him. "Do not taint your victory, Prince Zuko," said Iroh before he addressed Zhao. "So this is how the great Commander Zhao acts in defeat? Disgraceful! Even in exile, my nephew and his lieutenant are more honorable than you! Thanks again for the tea; it was delicious." The three then started to leave before Brody called out, "Leaving already, Trunks? Don't you want to settle our little score?"

"I assure you Brody, I will settle our score one day. But not today," replied Trunks.

"Guess you'll always be a weak coward," mocked Brody.

"I may be weaker than you, but I'll always be better than you!" said Trunks before he left with Zuko and Iroh.

"Did you mean that, uncle?" asked Zuko.

"Of course, I told you jing shang tea is my favorite," said Iroh.

Back at the Air Temple, Aang's powerful air force continued to increase as his friends moved closer. "Aang, I know you're upset!" said Katara. "And I know how hard it is to lose the people you love. I went through the same thing when I lost my mother! Monk Gyatso and the other Airbenders may be gone, but you still have a family! Your brother Gohan is still here and then there's Sokka and I; we're your family now!"

"Katara's right, Aang! You still have me, Appa, and Icarus! And now you have Sokka and Katara, we all care about you and that makes us all your family! And we'll always be beside you!" said Gohan.

After hearing those words, Aang slowly descended to the ground as the great winds died down. When he touched the ground and the winds stopped blowing, Gohan let go of his ki dome and the three approached the Avatar.

"Katara, Gohan, and I aren't going to let anything happen to you. Promise," said Sokka.

Katara then slipped her hand into Aang's as his eyes and tattoos stopped glowing. He then fell onto Katara due to exhaustion. "I'm sorry," said Aang weakly.

"It's ok, it wasn't your fault," said Katara.

"But you were right. And if the Firebenders found this temple, that means they found the others too. I really am the last Airbender," said Aang as he closed his eyes. Katara hugged Aang tightly and was joined by Gohan as they comforted Aang; Sokka just placed a hand on Aang's shoulder. Moments later, the four were back in the sanctuary. Aang was staring at the statue of his predecessor: Avatar Roku.

"Feel anything yet?" asked Gohan.

"Nope," replied Aang.

"Everything's packed! Ready to go?" asked Katara as she came next to Aang.

"How's Roku supposed to help me if I can't talk to him?" asked Aang.

"Maybe you'll find a way," encouraged Katara.

"Yeah. Gyatso said Roku would help you, and I know he's right about that," said Gohan.

Suddenly the four heard a noise and looked behind them. They saw the same lemur from earlier carrying food. The lemur hopped over to Sokka and put the fruit at his feet. The water tribe warrior immediately started stuffing his face. The three smiled as they watched Sokka chow down. "Looks like you made a new friend, Sokka," said Aang. Sokka stopped munching just to say, "Can't talk...must eat!" and contniued to eat. "Hey, pass me a peach, would ya?" asked Gohan. Sokka quickly tossed a peach to the energy bender and continued to chow down. The lemur then climbed unto Aang's head.

"Hey, little guy," Aang greeted the lemur.

Moments later, Aang was outside the Air Temple with Appa, Icarus, and the lemur. "You, me, Gohan, Appa, and Icarus; we're all that's left of this place. We need to stick together," said Aang as he spoke to the lemur. He then looked to the water tribe siblings and said, "Katara, Sokka, say hello to the newest member of our family." "What are you gonna name him?" asked Katara. The lemur jumped off Aang's shoulder and grabbed a peach from Sokka before it started eating it. "Momo," answered Aang before he and Katara laughed.

"Hey, where's Gohan?" asked Sokka.

"He said he had some things to take care of," replied Aang.

Back at the Air Temple, Gohan had just finished burying Gyatso's skeleton and was now paying his last respects. He held Gyatso's necklace as he spoke. "I'm sorry, master, I wasn't here to help you or the other Airbenders. But I promise to look after Aang in your place and help him restore balance to the world. I let the Fire Nation take you and the Air Nation, but I won't let them take Aang. I'll stake my life on it!"

Tears started to rolled down the energy bender's face as he grew sadder and angrier. As he stood there, his energy started to build up in his hands until he became blinded by rage. He then placed his hands above his head and yelled, "MASENKO...HA!" as he fired a yellow beam into the sky. "Interesting," said Gohan after he calmed down and realized what he did.

Outside, the gang saw a yellow beam fly through the air from behind the temple.

"What was that?" asked Sokka.

"I think that was Gohan," said Aang.

The gang then noticed their friend flying toward them while holding something. They approached him as he descended. "Are you ok, Gohan?" asked Katara. "Yes, I'm fine," replied the spiky haired teen. "Was that you?!" asked Sokka. "Yeah, sorry if I scared anyone. I just needed to blow of some steam," said Gohan apologetically before he turned to his brother and said, "Aang, I've got something for you."

"What is it?" asked Aang.

Gohan then walked up to Aang and put Gyatso's necklace around his neck. "I'm sure Gyatso would want you to have this." The Avatar looked at his teacher's memento ad smiled. "Thanks, Gohan."

"No problem," said Gohan.

The gang finally left on Appa; while they were flying away, Aang and Momo were staring at the Southern Air Temple. Gohan soon came and sat next to his brother. The two smiled at each other before they looked back at their old home together as it disappeared behind the clouds.

 **A/N: Now that that's finished, time to get to the next chapter. Hope you like the Brody surprise, try to guess something important about him. More surprises coming soon. And I'm sorry if Gohan seems out of character but he needs to be this in order to match the story, same goes for Trunks.**

 **In the meantime, I recommend these fanfics:**

 **RWBBY - The Shapeshifter by Sparkydragon98 (this fanfic recently got a new chapter!)**

 **The Kunoichi twins by Sally B. Mcgil**

 **Hunt for the Saiyan Hybrids by AntiHero627:)**

 **Mirai Saiyans by AntiHero627:)**

 **The New Face of Justice by Comorep677**

 **Until then BBFN**

 **Antihero out!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Alright! Time for the fourth Chapter! Hope you all have been satisfied with my work because that's what motivates me to keep writing.**

 **Disclaimer- I don't own Dragon ball Z or Avatar-The Last Airbender**

 **Chapter 4**

Zuko's Fire Navy Ship was sailing through the water as the search for the Avatar continued. Inside his quarters, Prince Zuko and Prince Trunks were meditating. They sat down with four lit candles in front of each of them. As the two inhaled, the fire on the candles diminshed and as they exhaled, the flames magnified. The door suddenly opened and Iroh stepped in.

"The only reason you should be interrupting us is if you have news about the Avatar," said Zuko.

 **"** Well there's news, Prince Zuko, but you might not like it," warned Iroh. "Don't get too upset."

"Iroh, you taught us that keeping a level head is a sign of a good leader, and if Zuko wants to prove he's worthy of being the next Fire Lord, he needs to handle even the worst news," said Trunks.

"Trunks is right, whatever you have to say I'm sure I can take it," assured Zuko.

"Ok then, we have no idea where he is," said Iroh.

The flames in front of Zuko suddenly burst out as he shouted, "WHAT?!" Trunks remained still as he sighed and said, "You took it better than I expected." Iroh opened a fan and started waving it in order to cool himself as Zuko stood up. "You really should open a window in here," said Iroh. "Give me the map!" ordered Zuko as he snatched the map from his uncle. "There have been multiple sightings of the Avatar, but he is impossible to track down," Iroh explained.

"How am I gonna find him, uncle?" asked Zuko as he observed all the directions his target took on the map. "He is clearly a master of evasive maneuvering."

"That, or he just has a terrible sense of direction," said Trunks when he looked at the map.

With the gang, Sokka was looking at the map while Aang was flying Appa and Gohan was riding Icarus. "You have no idea where you're going, do you?" Sokka asked Aang. "Well, I know it's near water," replied Aang as they flew over a vast ocean. "I guess we're getting close then," said Sokka sarcastically. The last Airbender turned to looked at Katara, who was busy sowing her brother's pants. "Momo, marbles please," requested Aang to the lemur bat. Momo crawled into Aang's shirt and brought a bag of marbles.

"Hey Katara, check out this airbending trick," said Aang as he used airbending to rotate the marbles while wearing a big smile.

"That's great, Aang," said Katara without looking.

"But you didn't even look," said Aang as he stopped his trick.

"That's great!" said Katara after stopping her sowing to look at her friend.

"But I'm not doing it now," said Aang.

"Stop bugging her airhead, you need to give girls space once they do their sowing," said Sokka.

"What does me being a girl have to do with sowing?" asked Katara, a little insulted.

"Simple, girls are better at fixing pants than guys, and guys are better at hunting and fighting and stuff like that. It's just a natural order of things," said Sokka.

"You know that's very sexist Sokka, and you shouldn't anger the girl fixing your pants," warned Gohan.

"It's ok Gohan, he's right," said Katara while wearing a fake smile. "See? All done with his pants, and look at what a great job I did!"

The waterbender threw her brother's pants at his face which made the energybender laugh. "Wait! I was just kidding! I can't wear these, Katara please!" begged Sokka as he put his arm through the hole in his pants. "Relax Sokka, where we're going you won't need any pants," said Aang as he steered the bison. The group landed on a specific island far from civilization. "We just made a pit stop yesterday. Shouldn't we get a little more flying done before we camp out?" asked Sokka.

"He's right. At this rate, we won't reach the North pole until spring," said Katara.

"But Appa's tired already, aren't you boy?" asked Aang. When he got no response from the bison, he nudged him with his elbow and said, "I said, aren't you boy?" When Appa finally made a yawn-like sound, Aang looked at his friends. "Yeah, that was real convincing," Sokka said sarcastically. "Still, hard to argue with a ten ton magical monster." "Aang, look!" said Gohan as he pointed toward the water. Four giant red and yellow scaled fish with two whiskers suddenly leaped out of the water, while the water tribe siblings watched in awe. "That's why we're here, elephant koi. Gohan and I are gonna ride 'em. Katara you gotta watch us," said Aang as he and Gohan stripped to their underwear. The boys ran to the ocean and jumped in, only to jump out a few seconds later and shout, "COLD!" before diving back in. Katara looked to Sokka, who made the crazy sign.

After staying underwater for a few minutes, two elephant kois jumped out of the water with Aang on top of one and Gohan on the other. The boys were holding onto the fishs' giant fins as they rode and they surfed the waves. Katara smiled as she watched her friends while Sokka just frowned, clearly unimpressed. The boys waved to their friends as they laughed.

"Whoo!" cheered Katara as she waved back.

"Yeah! Ha ha ha!" cheered the Airbender.

"Yee haw! Whoo hoo!" cheered the Energy bender.

The fish continued to jump into the air with the boys still on their backs. At one point, Gohan's fish jumped high into the air and he backflipped to its tail fin; he grabbed its tail and held tight as it resumed swimming. By holding its tail, Gohan was water skiing as his fish swam on. He then jumped back onto its back. Aang's dove down with him on it before resurfacing.

"They look pretty good out there," said Katara to her brother.

"Are you kidding? The two fish are doing all the work," said Sokka.

"No Appa, don't eat that!" cried Katara when she saw the bison. Aang had a huge smile on his face when he looked toward the shore, but then he noticed Katara leaving and frowned as he said, "Aw man." "Trying to show off to Katara again?" Gohan asked his brother. "No!" Aang denied. As the elephant koi continued to swim, something big was pursuing them from under the water. Three of the four fish suddenly changed direction, leaving the fourth to be hunted by the creature. "There's something in the water!" yelled Sokka. The fourth fish was suddenly dragged down by its tail and didn't resurface. The same happened to the third fish, while the two boys remained unaware.

"What's wrong?!" asked Katara as she returned.

"The guys are in trouble! Aang, Gohan!" shouted Sokka.

"Get out of there!" warned Katara as Momo screeched.

The boys looked over to the shore, where they saw their friends waving at them but couldn't hear their warnings. "Get back here guys!" yelled Sokka. "Come here!" cried Katara. Aang's fish was soon dragged down, which launched him off the fish and head first into the water. "Aang!" cried Gohan, seconds before his fish suffered the same fate. He landed right next to his brother as the creature swam towards them. A giant black fin suddenly appeared behind the boys. They screamed in fear before Aang grabbed Gohan's wrist and ran on the water. The sea monster chased after them but due to Aang's speed, it didn't catch up to them. Eventually the boys crashed into Sokka on shore, and the creature submerged itself. The boys quickly reclothed themselves as Katara approached them.

"What was that thing?" asked the waterbender.

"I don't know," replied Aang.

"Well, let's not stick around to find out; time to hit the road!" said Sokka as he stood up.

"I agree, let's go!" said Gohan.

But before they could leave, several warriors in green armor jumped out of the trees and surrounded the gang. Sokka reached for his boomerang, preparing to fight, but he was grabbed from behind by one of the warriors. Next was Katara, whose hood was pulled over her eyes by another warrior, then Aang's shirt was grabbed by a third warrior before he could react. Momo jumped into the air but was sacked by another warrior. Lastly, Gohan grabbed the hilt of his blade but his wrist was grabbed before he could pull it out as the warriors surrounded him. He tried to kick one of the assailants but they grabbed his left leg; he was then knocked off his right leg causing him to fall on his stomach as the warriors bound his arms and blindfolded him. Soon the whole gang was tied up and thrown on the ground.

"Or we could stay a while," said Sokka.

"Yeah. I mean, what's the rush?" asked Gohan.

The four were dragged back to a small village while still blindfolded by their captors and tied to a long pole that had a big statue of a woman on top of it. The warriors and the villagers were gathered in front of the gang, along with an old man. "You four have some explaining to do," said the old man. "And if you don't answer all of our questions, we're throwing you back in the water with the Unagi!" warned a female voice.

"Show yourselves, cowards!" challenged Sokka.

"Oh, that's a nice way to talk to the people who have us held captive!" said Gohan sarcastically.

"Show no fear!" said Sokka.

"Then show brains or respect!" argued Gohan.

The gang's blindfolds were removed, allowing them to see that their captors were a group of woman wearing green armor and face paint. They had fan-like weapons attached to their armor. The only one who stood out was the elderly man among them.

"Who are you? Where are the men who ambushed us?" asked Sokka.

"There were no men, we ambushed you," replied the leader of the warriors. "Now tell us: who are you and what are you doing here?"

"Wait a second, there's no way a bunch of girls took us down!" said Sokka.

"A bunch of girls huh? The Unagi's gonna eat well tonight!" said the leader as she grabbed Sokka's shirt.

"No, don't hurt him! He didn't mean it; my brother's just an idiot sometimes!" Katara said, defending her brother. The leader then released Sokka.

"Are you trying to get us killed before we reach the North Pole?!" asked Gohan.

"Hey, it's not my fault we're here!" said Sokka.

"He's right. It's my fault. I'm sorry we came here; my brother and I wanted to ride the elephant koi," Aang spoke up.

"If you let us go, we'll leave this place in peace and we'll take the idiot with us," said Gohan.

"Hey!" cried Sokka.

"How do we know you're not Fire Nation Spies?!" asked the old man accusingly. "Kyoshi stayed out of the war so far, and we intend to keep it that way!"

"This island is named for Kyoshi?" asked Aang. "I know Kyoshi!"

"Hah! How could you possibly know her?!" asked the old man as he looked toward the statue of the woman on the pole. "Avatar Kyoshi was born here four hundred years ago; she's been dead for centuries!"

"I know her because I am the Avatar," said Aang.

The old man was surprised to hear this, as were the other villagers, but the leader of the warriors replied, "That's impossible! The last Avatar was an Airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago!" "That's me!" replied Aang. "It's true!" said Gohan, trying to vouch for his brother. "Throw the imposter to the Unagi!" ordered the old man. The Kyoshi warriors opened their fans and slowly approached the four travelers. "Aang, do some airbending," said Katara. In one swift move, Aang hoisted himself into the air, breaking his restraints, and jumped right over Kyoshi's statue before slowly descending to the ground. Everyone, aside from Aang's travel companions, were amazed by what the young monk just did.

"It's true; you are the Avatar!" said the old man.

"Now, check this out!" said Aang as he brought out his marbles and rotated them using airbending.

"Really, bro?" asked Gohan.

The villagers started cheering wildly; one was cheering so much that foam started to build in her mouth until she fainted. The news of Aang's arrival spread like wildfire. One of the village girls came to a local fisherman and said, "Did you hear the news? The Avatar's on Kyoshi!" The fisherman nearly dropped his net of fish; he then passed the news to a second fisherman as he gave him his fish. The second fisherman then told someone from the fire nation colony while selling him a fish, and that man told the news to a certain fire prince while serving the fish.

"The Avatar's on Kyoshi island?!" asked Zuko after hearing the news. He then turned to Iroh and said, "Uncle, ready the rhinos! He's not getting away from me this time!"

"Are you going to finish that?" asked Iroh after his nephew left the smoked fish uneaten.

"I was going to save it for later!" said Zuko as he took the fish away, which made Iroh frown. Trunks then walked up to Zuko and suggested, "How about I ready the Rhinos right now if you give Iroh your smoked fish?"

"Fine! Just ready the Rhinos!" said Zuko as he placed the fish in front of his uncle. The retired general immediately started devouring the fish.

Meanwhile on Kyoshi island, some of the villagers were busy repainting the statue of Kyoshi while others were grooming Appa. Inside one of the homes, the gang was being served numerous plates of delicious food. "Alright! Dessert for breakfast!" cheered Aang as he started to chow down. "These people sure know how to treat an Avatar." "I'll say! This stuff's delicious!" said Gohan as he ate many of the plates of food rapidly. Katara stared at him with wide eyes while he just continued eating. "Does he always eat like this?" Katara asked Aang. "Oh yeah, Gohan's got a huge appetite!" explained Aang. Katara contniued to stare as Gohan stuffed his face. "Where does it all go?" asked the waterbender. "Please, I'm a fighter! I train way too much to let the food I eat fatten me!" said Gohan. After finishing a few more plates of food, the energy bender got up and said, "Gotta go! I'll see ya later!" as he grabbed his sword. "Where are you going, bro?" asked Aang.

"Did you see the way those Kyoshi warriors fight?" asked Gohan. "I'm gonna go see how they train and see if they're willing to spar with an outsider. Maybe even teach me some moves."

"You wanna train with the Kyoshi warriors?" asked Katara.

"Gotta improve my fighting skills any way I can, and these girls are great warriors, which makes them the perfect challenge!" said Gohan.

"Hmph!" said Sokka, who was brooding in the corner.

"Anyway, later," said Gohan, and with that, he left to where the Kyoshi warriors were training.

Aang just waved and said, "Have fun!" before continuing to eat. Katara seemed unsure about eating as she was inspecting the food. "Katara, you gotta try this," said Aang as he offered her a sweet. "Well, maybe just a bite," said Katara. She took a bite out of the food; upon seeing how good it was, she started picking up and chomping on others. As they ate, Aang finally noticed his friend sulking in the corner and called him over. "Sokka, what's your problem? Eat!"

"I'm not hungry," lied Sokka while sulking.

"But you're always hungry," argued Aang.

"He's just upset because a bunch of girls kicked his butt yesterday," Katara explained while teasing her brother.

"They snuck up on me!" argued Sokka.

"Right. And then they kicked your butt," Katara continued her teasing.

"Sneak attacks don't count," said Sokka as he got up and made his way over to the food table."Tie me up with ropes. I can't believe Gohan thinks they're great warriors. I'll show 'em a thing or two. I'm not scared of any girls. Who do they think they are anyway?" The water tribe warrior continued to grumble as he grabbed a few pieces of dessert, proving his hunger by eating them. "Mmm, this is tasty."

"What's he so angry about?" asked the airbender. "It's great here; they're giving us the royal treatment."

"Hey, don't get too comfortable! It's risky for us to stay in one place for very long," warned Katara.

"I'm sure we'll be fine. Besides, did you see how happy I'm making this town? They're even cleaning up my statue in my honor," said Aang.

"Well, it's nice to see you excited about being the Avatar. I just hope it doesn't all go to your head," said Katara.

"C'mon, you know me better than that. I'm just a simple monk," said Aang as he looked out the window. He suddenly heard girlish shrieks and looked down, seeing numerous fan girls a little younger than him screaming and waving. The simple monk smiled as he blushed while the waterbender stuck her tongue out. The Avatar was soon running from his admirers; he ran over a small bridge with the girls right behind him. He ran across the bridge again while still being chased by screaming ladies. At his third attempt to cross the bridge, he was surrounded by the girls from both ends of the bridge. He quickly jumped into the air before they could get him. The girls looked up and saw Aang using an air sphere to float; however, the air sphere quickly dissipated and he fell into the arms of the girls.

After that, Aang was standing with a girl while waiting for a painter to paint a picture of him. After getting a good look at them he started painting, but when he looked again he saw that a second girl had joined them. He began painting the three of them when two more girls showed up. He tried to paint them but the Avatar was soon surrounded by girls. The painter made a face before he left and the girls dog piled on Aang. The Avatar continued to show off by doing push-ups in front of the girls using two arms, then switched to one arm before switching to no arms and using his breath. Katara passed by, looking unimpressed.

Elsewhere, Gohan was walking through the village looking for where the Kyoshi warriors train. He soon came across a small dojo where the Kyoshi warriors were practicing their type of martial art while using their fans. He stepped up to the entrance and sat down to watch the warriors train. After a few minutes, the warriors noticed the energy bender and stopped to look at him.

"Please, don't stop on my account," said Gohan.

"Can we help you?" asked the Kyoshi leader.

"I was just impressed by your fighting skills the other day that I wanted to see it up close," said Gohan.

"Is that so?" asked the ledaer. "Judging by your gi, your headband, and your sword, I guess you're a warrior?"

"Yeah, I know a few basic fighting styles," replied Gohan before extending his hand. "I'm Gohan. I'm a martial artist and an energy bender."

"Suki, leader of the Kyoshi warriors," Suki introduced herself as she shook Gohan's hand. "You're the Avatar's brother, aren't you? You don't look related."

"We aren't by blood. We were raised and trained by the same master," explained Gohan.

"So how come you and the Avatar look so young when he claims to have disappeared a hundred years ago?" asked Suki.

"A hundred years ago, Aang ended up frozen in ice and remained there throughout the war. I ended up trapped in the Spirit world for that long," explained Gohan.

"I see," said Suki. "I wish to apologize for ambushing you the other day."

"Don't worry about it. I actually came here to see if you would like to spar with or show me some of your skills," requested Gohan.

"You wish to learn from us?" asked Suki. "We're not exactly comfortable with teaching an outsider."

"Think of it as a teaching and learning experience. If we spar, I could learn new fighting styles while you could get some experience in fighting outsiders," said Gohan.

"Why would we need experience in fighting outsiders?" asked Suki.

"My friends and I will not be the last outsiders to visit this island. We're in a war; the Fire Nation will come here eventually in their conquest, no matter how long you distance yourselves from the rest of the world. I've gone up against the Fire Nation before; I'm offering you a little knowledge in fighting outsiders in exchange for showing me what you girls can do," said Gohan. "What do you say?"

Suki thought about his offer for a minute before she said, "Alright Gohan, you have a deal. Now which one of my warriors would you like to be your opponent?"

"Actually, I would be honored if you would be my first opponent Suki," said Gohan.

"I'd be glad to spar with you Gohan," said Suki.

The spiky haired teen unstrapped his sword and dropped it on the ground; it made a thud noise and left a dent in the floor. "Will you not be using your sword?" asked Suki as Gohan started flexing and stretching. "No. That sword is really heavy and this is just a friendly spar. Plus, I don't think you could handle it if I swung it at you, no offense," said Gohan. "None taken," said Suki as she entered a fighting position. "Now, show me what you got!" Gohan entered his own stance as he prepared to fight. His first attack was a kick which Suki blocked with her fan. She then threw him and he landed on his back. Gohan quickly got up and threw a punch at his opponent, but she quickly dodged it and tried to hit him with her own fist.

Gohan blocked her punch and pushed her back with a palm strike. She jumped into the air in an attempt to kick the energy bender, but he evaded her and tried to kick her again, which she blocked with her fan. "You're pretty good," said Gohan as he put his leg down.

"You're not too bad yourself," said Suki.

"I'm just getting warmed up!" said Gohan.

"So am I!" Suki replied.

The energy bender threw a punch at the Kyoshi warrior, but she grabbed his fist and raised his arm. She held her fist to his face as if she were planning on punching him. For a moment, no one made any move. Suki then grabbed Gohan's headband and pulled it over his eyes before flinging him over her shoulder. Gohan quickly got up but didn't remove the blindfold as he took his fighting stance. "Aren't you gonna take off the blindfold?" asked Suki.

"Oh I will eventually. Besides, it's good training," said Gohan as he charged at Suki. She quickly rolled out of his way, forcing him to stop and stay still. _"He's trying to detect me by using his other senses, very resourceful,"_ thought Suki. She then started sliently moving around her opponent, trying to get to his back. She accidently stepped on an unstable tile on the floor, which made a sound loud enough for Gohan to hear. He reacted quickly by turning around and kicking Suki, which knocked her off her feet. She quickly stood up as Gohan rushed at her again and stepped to the side, avoiding Gohan just barely. When she turned around she saw Gohan standing still, trying to sense her without looking. She tiptoed around him without making a sound, but he suddenly took a few sniffs before turning toward Suki and charging at her. He threw another punch at her, which she blocked with her own fist before Gohan pulled up his headband.

"That was fun," said Gohan.

"It was indeed. As much fun as it is sparring with you, we need to get back to our training," said Suki.

"Of course. But allow me to watch before I go do my own training," requested Gohan. "And anytime you want to spar, just let me know."

"Sure thing," said Suki. Gohan went to sit down in a corner as the Kyoshi warriors went back to their training. The energy bender picked up a rock and started to sharpen his sword by scraping the rock against it. Outside, a certain water tribesman was still grumbling to himself about losing to female warriors. "I can't believe I got beat up by a bunch of girls," said Sokka as he approached the Kyoshi warriors' training room. Sokka looked inside before walking in on the warriors.

"Sorry ladies, didn't mean to interrupt your dance lesson, but I was just looking for somewhere to get a little workout," said Sokka as he started stretching.

"Well, you're in the right place. Your friend got a good workout earlier," said Suki as she gestured to Gohan in the corner.

"Hey Gohan," greeted Sokka. "Why are you here?"

"Hi Sokka. I came to train with the Kyoshi warriors," explained Gohan. "They're very skilled."

Sokka glared at Gohan for a second before resuming his stretching. "Sorry about yesterday. I didn't know you were friends with the Avatar," Suki apologized to Sokka.

"It's alright. I mean normally I'd hold a grudge, but seeing as you guys are a bunch of girls, I'll make an exception," said Sokka.

"I should hope so," said Suki as she made an innocent face. "A big strong man like you, we wouldn't stand a chance."

"True, but don't feel bad. After all, I'm the best warrior in my village."boasted Sokka clearly unaware of the trap Suki was setting up for. Gohan sighed as he thought. _"You're the only warrior in your village. The others are either toddlers or women who do labor work."_ "Wow. Best warrior huh? In your whole village. Maybe you'd be kind enough to give us a little demonstration?"requested Suki. Sokka seemed unsure at the moment as he said "Oh. Well, I mean I..."

"Come on girls, wouldn't you like him to show us some moves?"Suki asked the Kyoshi warriors. The girls giggled as the nodded. "Well if that's what you want, I'd be happy to."said Sokka. He then pushed Suki back a little and said "Alright, you stand over there." Sokka then took a stance as he prepared to strike. "Now this may seem a little tough, but try to block me."instructed Sokka. He threw a punch at Suki, she simply jabbed his shoulder with her fan which halted his attack and made him back up.

"Heh, heh. Good. Of course I was going easy on you."said Sokka as he flexed his arm.

"Of course."said Suki as she smirk.

"Let's see if you can handle this!"said Sokka as he tried to kick Suki. She quickly dodged his attack and knocked him into the air. She opened her fan and used it to fan herself as Sokka fell on his back. Gohan face palmed himself as he thought _"Here it comes."_ Now angry, Sokka stood up and exclaimed "That does it!" The water tribe warrior tried to punch the Kyoshi leader but she side stepped him and grabbed his wrist. She started spinning him around as he screamed, she then grabbed his belt and tied his wrist to his ankle. Sokka hopped for a few seconds before he fell down.

"Anything else you want to teach us?"asked Suki jokingly as the kyoshi warriors laughed and Sokka blushed. Gohan got up and grabbed Sokka's foot before he said "Excuse us." he then and dragged his friend outside. Once outside Gohan untied Sokka's hand and foot and asked "Really man? Where's your respect tor a fellow warrior?" Sokka grabbed his belt and grumbled "They're just a bunch of girls." "They're still capable warriors who managed to kick your butt twice. Why does it matter whether they're boy or girl?"asked Gohan. "If you actually managed to drop your manly pride, you could learn a thing or two from these Kyoshi warriors. I sure have." The energy bender then left to do his own training, leaving Sokka to rethink things.

Back in the village, the Avatar was still with his female fans staring at the statue of Avatar Kyoshi. It was fully cleaned up and looked good as new. "There she is girls, me in a past life."said Aang. "Oooh."said the girls. "You were very pretty."said one of the girls. Aang then said "Excuse me for a second ladies." before he left to find his friend Katara. The waterbender was busy collecting groceries, when Aang came and tapped her.

"Oh hi."greeted Katara. "Can you help me carry this back to our room, it's a little heavy?"

"Actually I can't right,"said Aang.

"What do you mean you can't?"asked Katara.

"I promised the girls I'd give them a ride on Appa."replied the monk before he offered. "Why don't you come with us? It'll be fun."

"Watching you show off for a bunch of girls does not sound like fun."said Katara as returned to collecting groceries.

"Well, niether does carrying your basket."countered Aang.

"It's not my basket, these supplies are for our trip. I told you we have to leave Kyoshi soon."explained Katara.

I don't wanna leave Kyoshi yet."said Aang. "I can't put my finger on it but there's something I really like about this place."

Just then the girls in Aang's fan group giggled as one of them called out to him. "What's taking so long Aangy?"she asked. The Avatar waved to his fans whiled Katara made a face and asked "Aangy?" "Just a second Coco!"replied Aang. "Simple monk huh? I thought you promised me this Avatar stuff wouldn't go to your head?"asked the waterbender. "It didn't."replied the monk as he made a suspecting. "You know what I think? You just don't wanna come because you're jealous."

"Jealous! Of what?"asked Katara as she looked away and started gather things again.

"That we're having so much fun without you." said Aang. **(A/N: As if that makes any sense.)**

"That's ridiculous." argued Katara.

"It is a little ridiculous but I understand." said Aang.

The waterbender glared as she huffed at the monk before grabbing her basket of supplies and storming off. Aang was then grabbed by his fans and pulled away. Meanwhile, Gohan was busy doing his own training in one room in the dojo while the Kyoshi warriors were doing their own exercises in the other. The spiky haired teen was throwing punches and kicks while shouting "Hyaa!" He did flips, backflips, handstands along with pushups and situps. He then threw his arms forward multiple times, creating numerous air force attacks or kiai. He then channeled energy through his body and created an energy shield before releasing it as an energy blast. He finally placed his hands above his head while directing ki into his palms. He then yelled "MASENKOHA!" as he fired a large yellow beam into the sky. Gohan then sat down and closed his eyes as he began to meditate. He suddenly noticed Sokka walking past him and going to where ehe Kyoshi warriors were training.

"Uh, hey Suki." greeted Sokka awkwardly.

"Hoping for another dance lesson?" asked Suki as she stopped training to address.

"No I...well, let me explain..." said Sokka hesitantly.

"Spit it out! What do you want?" asked Suki.

The water tribesman suddenly fell to knees as he said "I would be honored if you would teach me."

"Even if I'm a girl?" asked Suki indignantly as she crossed her arms.

"I'm sorry if I insulted you earlier, I was wrong." said Sokka.

"We normally don't teach outsiders, let alone boys!" said Suki.

"Please make an exception, I won't let you down." assured Sokka as he bowed.

"Alright, but you have to follow all our traditions." instructed Suki.

"Of course." Sokka replied quickly.

"And I mean all of them." Suki repated while smirking.

A few moments later Sokka was dressed in the same kind of clothing as the Kyoshi warriors and wearing their face paint. It was clear to say he didn't find it fitting for himself. "Do I really have to wear this? It feels a little...girly." complained Sokka. "It's a warriors uniform." explained Suki. "I don't see Gohan wearing this." argued Sokka as he stared at his friend who was practicing his swordsmanship, but he stopped to address Sokka. "Whoa, hold on there buddy. I asked to spar with the Kyoshi warriors or for them to show me some of their fighting styles, I didn't ask them to train me. Their fighting style is good, but I wish to improve and adapt my own by observing and learning new ones. I don't want to be a Kyoshi warrior. You asked Suki to train you, so wearing the dress is your problem."

"You should feel proud to wear this uniform." said Suki. "The silk tread represents the brave blood that runs through a warriors veins, the gold insignia represents the honor of a warrior's heart."

"Bravery and honor." Sokka said as he stood prouldly.

Just then Aang walked by the dojo and saw his friend in the uniform. He teased Sokka by saying "Hey Sokka, nice dress." which made the water tribesman frown in embarrassment. The Avatar continued to walk around until he found Katara practicing her waterbending, she paid no attention to him as he spoke. "Katara, remember how the Unagi almost got me yesterday?" asked Aang.

"Yeah." answered Katara without looking.

"Well, I'm gonna go ahead and ride it now." said Aang. "It's gonna be real dangerous."

"Good for you." said Katara.

"You're not gonna stop me?" asked a surprised Aang.

"Nope. Have fun." said Katara.

"I will." assured Aang.

"Great!" said Katara.

"I know it's great!" said Aang.

"I'm glad you know!" said Katara.

"I'm glad you're glad!" said Aang.

"Good!" said Katara as she stopped waterbending and clenched her fist.

"Fine!" said Aang before he stormed off. He looked back only to see Katara looking a way with her arms folded and left. Katara looked to where he was before looking away worried. Back at the dojo, Sokka was trying to copy the Kyoshi warriors movements with the fan weapon while Suki was supervising him. "You're not gonna master it in one day. Even I'm not that good." said Suki. "I think I'm starting to get the hang of it." said Sokka. He then started moving around with the fan before throwing it at a tree and knocking the snow off of it. "It's not about strentgh." explained Suki.

"Our technique is about using our opponents force against them, loosen up." Suki then brought out her own fan as she continued to explain. "Think of the fan as an extension of your arm," she talked while she and Sokka took similar stances. "Wait for an opening and then..." she was suddenly interrupted when Sokka managed knock her down. For a moment both were too surprised to say anything, then crossed his arms and smirked.

"I fell on purpose to make you feel better!" Suki claimed as she stood up.

"I got you! Admit I got you!" said Sokka as he pointed a finger at his instructor.

Suki then grabbed his finger and bent it a bit, making Sokka wince in pain. "Ok but it was a lucky shot." Suki said as she released Sokka who checked his hand. She then said "Let's see if you can do it again." The two then resumed their training.

At the the island beach, Aang was in the water waiting for the Unagi to emerge while his fan girls were sitting on the shore looking bored as they waited. "What's taking so long?" asked Coco. "I'm sure it'll be here any second." assured the Avatar. After a second and nothing happened, Aang tried to entertain the girls with his marble trick. "Uh, what about this?" he asked. "Not that again. Boring." said another one of the girls. "Where's the Unagi? It's getting late!" exclaim Coco as the girls stood up. "Where are you going? Don't leave!" cried Aang. "Sorry Aang, maybe next time." said Coco as the girls left. Feeling depressed, the Avatar sank into the water just above his nose. He then noticed his water tribe friend coming to the beach.

"Katara! You showed up!" exclaimed Aang.

"I wanted to make sure you were safe." explained Katara. "You really had me worried."

"Back there you acted like you didn't care." said Aang.

"I'm sorry." Katara apologized.

"Me too." as did Aang. "I did let all that attention go to my head, I was being a jerk."

"Well get out of the water before you catch a cold you big jerk!" Katakra said jokingly.

The Avatar smiled as he said "On my way!" and started to swim towards the shore. As he swam something big started following him. Katara gasped when she recognized what it was. In a few seconds something came under Aang and lifted him above the water. The Avatar was no longer in the water but was on the body of the Unagi, whose head was staring down at him. The sea monster sprayed a giant blast of water at the monk but held onto one of it's scales in order to prevent himself from falling off. The Unagi then lunged at Aang, who grabbed on of it's whiskers. The Unagi shook it's head as the held on for dear life. The airbender screamed as he continued to swing around the sea monster's head, avoiding it's mouth.

"Hang on Aang!" cried Katara as she watched helplessly from the shore.

Eventually the Avatar was flung off of the Unagi and landed hard in the water, when he resurfaced his mouth was open as he laid there unconscious. "Aang!" cried the waterbender as she enter the water and swam towards her friend. The Unagi then submerged itself and swam towards Aang. Katara desperately swam towards the airbender as the Unagi came closer. She managed to get to him first but the two were too far from the swim back before the Unagi could get them; it's head suddenly appeared right above the two benders, preparing to devour them.

Just as the Unagi lunged at them, Katara used her waterbending to push her and Aang towards the shore. After they reached the shore, the Unagi sprayed two blasts of water before diving back under the ocean. Katara looked out from behind a rock and saw something terrible coming towards Kyoshi island: Zuko's Fire Navy Ship. "Zuko!" she said as the ship stopped at Kyoshi shore. Zuko, Trunks, and many fire soldiers were soon riding Kumodo Rhinos down the ship's stairs as Zuko said "I want the Avatar alive!" Katara hid behind a rock with Aang who was still unconscious as the Fire soldiers passed them and headed towards Kyoshi village.

"Wake up Aang!" she said as she laid him against a rock. She then moved her hand from his stomach to his mouth, bending the water inside him into her hand. The Avatar coughed as he regained consciousness and spoke to his friend. "Katara..." the waterbender smiled at the airbender. "Don't ride the Unagi, not fun."

At the Village, the Kyoshi warriors were still training, so was Gohan while Suki was still sparing with Sokka in the dojo. She threw one final strike at him which he blocked. "Not bad." complemented Suki while she smiled as did Sokka. Suddenly the village elder came to the dojo and cried "Firebenders have landed on our shores! Girls, come quickly!" Suki ran off while Sokka hesitated. "Hey, I'm not a...oh, whatever!" said Sokka as Momo jumped off his shoulder before he ran after the Kyoshi leader.

Gohan was still doing martial arts when he noticed the villagers hurrying into their homes while the Kyoshi warriors were running outside. When he saw Sokka and Suki running, he ran after them. After catching up to Sokka, he tapped his shoulder and asked "Sokka, what's going on?" "Fire Nation! They're here!" replied Sokka. "It's probably Zuko and Trunks hunting Aang again!" said Gohan before he turned to Suki and said "Suki, tell your warriors not to confront the lavendared haired fire prince when I'm around!"

"Why? Who's that?" asked Suki.

"He's an energy bender and a fighter like me! I want to take him alone!" said Gohan. Suki nodded as all the warriors spread out to their hiding places. The Fire Nation were at the foot of the village, all the villagers were hiding in their homes as the sun began to set. "Come out Avatar!" ordered Prince Zuko. "You can't hide from me forever!"

"If you surrender peacefully we will not harm the villagers or your friends!" said Prince Trunks trying to negotiate. "But if you resist, we will use force!"

After waiting for a few minutes and the Avatar didn't appear, Zuko said "Find him!" sending his men to search the village. The Fire Soldiers were storming through the village on Kumodo Rhinos looking for their target. In the shadows, the Kyoshi warriors were opening their fans and sneaking around their enemies, surrounding them.

One of the Fire Soldiers was suddenly knocked off his Rhino by a Kyoshi warrior. Another Soldier tried to jab one of the warriors with his spear but she deflected it with her fan and jumped onto his Rhino before kicking him off it. Suki jumped off one rhino and charged at the rhino Zuko was on, the angry jerk shot two fireballs at her which she avoided by jumping into the air. Zuko glared at her before using his rhino's tail to knock Suki down. Zuko attacked his fallen foe with a fire blast, Sokka suddenly jumped in front of Suki and deflected the fire attack as Zuko was suddenly knocked off his rhino by another Kyoshi warrior.

"I guess training's over!" said Sokka to Suki.

Trunks immediately jumped off his rhino, and landed in a circle off five Kyoshi warriors. The first one threw her fan at the prince, his quick reflexes allowed him to grab it in mid air and toss it back at it's owner with greater force that knock her down. The second one tried to kick Trunks but he blocked with his forearm and elbow bashed her down. The third managed to get the jump on Trunks by grabbing his hair and armor before tossing over her shoulder onto the ground, he quickly got up and palm struck the female warrior. The last two warriors (Sokka and Suki) surrounded Trunks and rushed at him. They threw punches and kicks at the lavendar hared prince which he blocked with little effort. _"He's as good as Gohan!"_ thought Suki.

Sokka tried to hand chop Trunks but the energy bender grabbed his wrist before looking closely at his face. "Don't I know you?!" asked Trunks.

"Maybe! I'm the warrior that going to take you down, Kyoshi style!" replied Sokka as he attempted to kick the fire prince, Trunks quickly dodged as he looked at Sokka's face again. "Aren't you the water tribe warrior from the South Pole?! Why are you in a dress?!" asked Trunks.

"This dress is a symbol of bravery and honor!" replied Sokka. "And I'm proud to wear it!"

"Yeah! You'd have to be brave to wear a dress in a fight!" said Trunks. "And what very little honor it takes to defend yourself for wearing it proudly!"

Before Sokka could reply him, Trunks was suddenly kicked in the head by Suki. He staggered a bit as Suki and Sokka closed in on him and kicked him flat on his back. As Trunks looked up Suki and Sokka held out their fans as they kept him at bay. "Give up! You can't win! You'll never have the Avatar!" ordered Suki. "Is that so?" asked Trunks as he smirked. Suddenly the Kyoshi leader was knocked off her feet by a fire attack from an angry Prince Zuko, she fell face down on the ground unconscious.

"Suki!" cried Sokka as he looked away from Trunks. The scarred Prince qiuckly got up and handchopped the Kyoshi trainee before kicking him in the gut and elbow bashing his head, knocking him out. He suddenl sensed someone attacking as a shadow loomed over him. He looked up to see Gohan coming down on him with his sword drawn. Trunks quickly brought his own sword wnd blocked the attack. "Gohan! I was hoping you'd be here; otherwise I wouldn't get a challenge!" said Trunks as he smirked. "Oh, I'll give you a real challenge!" replied Gohan as he swung again. Trunks blocked the strike before slashing a his opponent. Gohan blocked his slash and tried jab Trunks, but the Prince avoide the attack and kicked Gohan down away from himself. He then fire an energy blast at the spiky haired teen who rolled out of it's path and stood up.

Trunks continued to fire numerous blasts which Gohan deflected by swinging his sword multiple times before rushing towards his foe and swinging his blade at him, resuming their sword fight. The two energy benders continued to slash at each other until Zuko shot a fireball at Gohan, forcing him to back away.

"If the Avatar's brother is here, then so is the Avatar!" said Zuko as he recognized Gohan. "Tell me wher he is!"

"Like I told you before, if you want him you have to get past me!" replied Gohan.

"So be it!" said Zuko as he shot more fire attacks at Gohan. The energy bender extended his hand towards the roaring flames and created a kiai to dissolve the flames. This however left him open to Trunks' assualt as the Prince swung his sword at Gohan. Instinctively Gohan managed to dodge the first slash only recieving a cut on his right cheek and block the secong one. As he and Trunks pushed against each other with their strengths, Zuko jumped over them and landed behind Gohan just as Trunks backed away from him.

The two Princes fired their attacks at the spiky haired fighter, but quickly jumped into the air to avoid the combo attack. The fire attack and the energy blast colliding created a big flaming explosion that stretched towards the air just under Gohan's right boot. _"Whew, that was close!"_ thought Gohan before he noticed another ki blast from Trunks' hand coming at him.

Acting quickly, Gohan threw his sword into the sky and clamped his hands together; he swung at the energy blast, sending it back at the energy bender that fired it. Trunks crossed his arms over his face in order to block the attack. Zuko then shot three more fire blasts at Gohan which he dodged ans he descended towards the ground, he then took a big breath and blew towards the son of the Fire Lord. Zuko was hit with a strong force that sent him colliding into Trunks. **(A/N: Incase you didn't know, Gohan originally does have a super breath. In this fic most of his attacks are use to manipulate air like an airbender. So think of every air type or invisible energy attack that the Z fighters have used so far, cause those are the moves Gohan will be using until further notice.)** The princes quickly got up as Gohan's sword fell back into his hand. The black haired energy bender then swung his sword, sending another gale force at his opponents who crossed their arms to withstand it.

Using their distraction to his advantage, Gohan charged at Zuko and kicked him in the gut which knocked him a few feet away. He then threw his sword at Trunks' hand, knocking his sword away and punching him in the face. Trunks quickly grabbed Gohan's wrist and tossed him into a building as their swords landed blade first in the ground. Trunks then jumped at his enemy and tried to punched him, but Gohan quickly rolled away causing Trunks to punch the side of a house.

Gohan tried to elbow bash Trunks but the prince blocked it with his knee. Trunks threw another punch at Gohan which he blocked with his own punch. The two fighters then began trading blows until they punched each other in the face. Trunks recovered first and uppercut Gohan in the chin. Gohan quickly countered with a handstand and kicked Trunks' face with both his feet. The Prince retaliated by kicking Gohan in the face, and Gohan repaided him with a skull bash to the forehead. The two backed away from each other to catch their breaths.

"Give up! You can't stop us from claiming our prize!" said Trunks.

"He's not a prize! He's my brother, and I won't let you take him away from!" replied Gohan.

"You're a stubborn one I'll give you that, but you're not strong enough to stop us!" said Trunks.

"Is that right?!" asked Gohan.

"It is!" answered Zuko from behind Gohan.

The black haired fighter turned around to see the angry jerk launch a big fire ball at his Trunks fired a large energy blast at his front. Now completely cornered, Gohan crossed his arms over his face. The attacks crashed into Gohan, engulfing him in a blazing combustion. When the explosion ended, the princes were surprised to see their opponent still standing unharmed; protected by a gold energy dome.

Gohan smirked as he said "Nice try, but it's my turn!" He then lowered his dome, he then backflipped over the angry jerk and leveled his hand at him. He shouted "Hyaa!" as he created a large kiai that knocked Zuko into the side of a building where he fell uncoscious. "Zuko!" cried Trunks before he glared at Gohan and said "You're going to pay for that!" He then fired another ki blast at Gohan who jumped into the air to avoid it. When Gohan looked down he saw his opponents arms were extended towards him while in a diamond shape. **"Take this! BURNING ATTACK!"** shouted Trunks as he fired a gold beam at Gohan; the spiky haired teen crossed his arms in defence. The blast collided with Gohan creating an explosion that sent him hurling towards into a small house that collapsed on him.

"That was hardly a challenge," said Trunks as he turmed to leave, he suddenly heard a rustling sound from behind him. He then around and saw Gohan jump out of the pile of wood with his hands positioned over his head. **"TRY THIS, MASENKO...HA!"** cried Gohan as he fired his own gold beam at his foe. The beam hit Trunks in the chest and tossed him into the dojo which collapsed on him.

"Phew." said Gohan as he wiped his forehead. "It's over."

He suddenly saw Trunks' fist smash through the wood pile seconds before the prince himself walked out. His chestplate was cracked from Gohan's last attack. His hair was loose after losing his hair tie, blood dripped from his mouth, and his elbows and knees were exposed. Gohan wasn't a better state, his orange top shirt was torn revealing his blue T shirt, blood slid from his forehead and his arns were bruised. The two stared at each other for some time before Trunks said "It seems our fight isn't over yet."

"I guess not." replied Gohan.

"Well then, shall we proceed?"askes Trunks as he took a stance.

"Let's go!" said Gohan as he took his own stance. The two fighters charged at each other with their fists ready, Gohan tried to punch Trunks but his fist was grabbed. Trunks then tried to punch Gohan but his fist was also grabbed. The energy benders glared at each other while trying to overtake their standoff.

Elsewhere, Prince Zuko regained consciousness in time to see that he was surrounded by Suki, Sokka, and one more Kyoshi warrior. They recently woke up and left Gohan to handle Trunks while they dealt with Zuko. Acting quickly, Zuko stood on his hands and twisted his body, creating a fire spin attack. It knocked the third Kyoshi warrior into one of the homes and Suki into the side of a cabin. Sokka managed to dodge Zuko's attack by jumping by was eventually knocked off his feet as Zuko got back on his.

"Nice try Avatar, but these little girls can't save you! And niether can your brother!" said Zuko.

"Hey! Over here!" a voice called from behind the fire prince.

Zuko turned around and saw Aang standing with his staff, ready to do battle. "Finally!" Zuko said anxiously. He then shot two fire strikes at the Airbender. Aang quickly dodged them and jumped towards Zuko, but before he could attack Zuko fire kicked his staff out of his hands. Reacting quickly, Aang jumped away and picked up two Kyoshi warrior fans. Zuko charged angrily at Aang as he growled, the Avatar gave a mighty yell as he swung the fans; creating a giant air wave that blew Zuko into a house. He then turned and saw his brother still struggling with the other prince. "Gohan, move!" cried Aang as he ran towards them.

Using his head, Gohan skull bashed Trunks' forehead forcing the lavendar haired teen to recoil while Gohan jumped back. Aang swung his fans again at the same time Gohan extended his hand at Trunks, together they unleashed a strong gust of wind that threw Trunks into another home that collapsed on him. Although he was victorious, the Avatar had a look of disappointment.

"Thanks for the help, but I probably could've taken him myself." said Gohan before he saw his brother's face. "Aang? You ok?"

"No." replied Aang as he left to get his glider and Gohan left to help tue Kyoshi warriors. After picking up his glider, and flew above the island. He saw many damaged homes, fire everywhere, all from the fire nation coming to this island for him. He looked behind himself and saw the Avatar Kyoshi statue on fire. His face grew more depressed as he continued to fly.

"Get inside." said Katara to some children before Aang landed beside her.

"Look what I brought to this place." said Aang.

"It's not your fault." assured Katara.

"Yes it is. These peopl got their town destroyed trying to protect me." argued the young monk.

"Then let's get out of here." suggested the waterbender. "Zuko will leave Kyoshi to follow us. I know it seems wrong to run, but I think it's the only way."

"I'll call Appa." the Avatar said in agreement sadly.

The Kyoshi warriors were still fending off Zuko's army while Gohan, Suki, and Sokka were hiding. The energy bender looked around to make sure they were clear to leave. When two fire benders were about to attack them, Gohan quickly hit them with a strong kiai that blew them away. "If we're going say our goodbyes, we need to be fast. We need to escape before this town burns to the ground." warned Gohan as he blew away more fire soldiers.

"There's no time to say goodbye!" argued Suki.

"What about I'm sorry?" asked Sokka.

"For what?" asked Suki.

"Being a jerk? Being yourself?" joked Gohan.

"Not helping!" said Sokka to his friend before addressing Suki. "I treated you like a girl when I should've treated you like a warrior, like Gohan did."

"I am a warrior," said Suki before she kissed Sokka's cheek. "But I'm a girl too." The water tribesman blushed as he touched his cheek. Gohan smiled as he turned around and offered his hand to the Kyoshi leader. "Thanks for sparring with me, I hope we mert again Suki." said the energy bender. Suki didn't shake his hand, instead she pecked him on the cheek as well and said "I'd be willing to spar with you again anytime Gohan. You too Sokka." as she smiled at the boys.

The boys looked at each other before smiling at Suki while blushing. "Now get out of here! We'll hold them off!" ordered Suki as the Kyoshi continued to battle the Fire Nation. Sokka and Momo got on Appa's saddle where Aang and Katara were waiting while Gohan got on Icarus. "Appa, yip yip!" ordered Aang. The sky bison and the magic dragon soon took to the skies, leaving the burning Kyoshi. On the ground, Trunks helped his fellow prince to his feet when they noticed their target escaping. "Back to the Ship! Don't lose sight of them!" Zuko ordered as he ran off.

"You heard the man, let's move!" shouted Trunks as he followed Zuko onto the Rhinos. The fire soldiers followed soon after. In the air, Katara was trying to comfort Aang about leaving Kyoshi. "I know it's hard but you did the right thing. Zuko would've destroyed the whole place if we stayed, they're gonna be ok Aang." Suddenly Aang had a determined look on his face and jumped off Appa. "What are you doing?!" asked Katara.

The Avatar landed in the water while his friends watched with worry. Suddenly the Unagi emerged from the ocean with Aang hanging from it's whiskers, he then pulled on it's whiskers as he directed it's head towards the village. The Unagi spray a giant wave of water that rained on the village, putting out the fire. The Fire Nation were also rained on which made Zuko angry as they were soaked. Aang then jumped off the Unagi into the air where Appa grabbed him. The elder of Kyoshi watched as the two beasts left Kyoshi with their passengers and said "Thank you Avatar." as he smiled.

"I know, I know. That was stupid and dangerous." said Aang as he climbed into Appa's saddle and sat down.

"Yes it was." agreed Katara while smiling. She suddenly hugged the young monk which made him smile.

"Nice one Aang." said Gohan as the gang continued their journey.

 **A/N: Ok. Now to move on to the next chapter. Just to inform my readers, if the next chapters don't appear after a week or so it means I'm having trouble posting them, not that I've stopped writing. See you next time.**

 **TTFN AntiHero out!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer- I don't own Dragon ball Z or Avatar-The Last Airbender**

 **Chapter 5-**

It was just another day of traveling for the gang. This time, they had decided to take a trip to a certain place that Aang and Gohan used to visit a hundred years ago: the City of Omashu. The Avatar led the group onto a hill where they could see the city in the distance. "The Earth kingdom city of Omashu!" announced Aang as the group stared at the city. "Gohan and I used to come here all the time to visit our friend Bumi."

"The city's still as magnificent as ever! Nice to know that it hasn't changed much in the last century!" said Gohan.

"Wow! We don't have cities like this in the South Pole," said an astonished Katara.

"They have buildings that don't melt," said Sokka in awe.

"That's because they're made of stone instead of ice," said Gohan.

"Well let's go, slowpokes! The real fun is inside the city!" said Aang as he jumped a few feet forward. "Wait Aang!" called Katara to the young monk. "It could be dangerous if people find out you're the Avatar." "You need a disguise," agreed Sokka. "So what am I supposed to do? Grow a mustache?" asked the confused Airbender. "I think you'd have better luck growing hair, or at least wearing a wig..." suggested Gohan as he looked at the sky bison. Pretty soon, Aang was wearing a wig and a fake mustache made from Appa's fur. "Ugh, it's so itchy! How do you live in this stuff?!" Aang asked the bison, who blew air in his face as a response.

"Great! Now you look just like my grandfather," joked Sokka.

"Technically, Aang and Gohan are a hundred and fourteen years old," said Katara.

"Heh heh! I bet no one will recognize you if you act like our grandfather," chuckled Gohan.

The Airbender then picked up his staff and twirled it around before he hunched over and said, "Now let's get skipping, young whippersnappers! The big city awaits!" before he walked away, leaving his friends with looks of concern. The four teens crossed the passageway toward the city gates. "You guys are going to love Omashu!" said Aang to the water tribe siblings. "The people here are the friendliest in the world!" The gang suddenly stopped when they heard shouting; they looked ahead and saw three guards dealing with a local cabbage merchant at the gate. "Rotten cabbages! What kind of slum do you think this is?!" asked the head guard as he squashed the cabbage in his hand; he then used his earthbending to launch the cart of cabbages off the mountain.

"My cabbages!" cried the merchant.

The gang watched as the cart fell all the way to the bottom and shattered. "Guess the people in the city grew less nice over the last century," said Gohan. "Just keep smiling," said Aang nervously. The four continued to approach the gate, and upon reaching it, the head guard suddenly raised a boulder over Aang's head and said, "State your business!" Aang zoomed up to the guard and jabbed a finger to his face. "My business is my business, young man, and none of yours!" yelled Aang in an old man voice as the boulder fell to the ground. "I've got half a mind to bend you over my knee and counter your backside!" Sokka had a weird look on his face, Katara shook her head in disbelief, and Gohan was struggling not to laugh at his brother's performance.

"Settle down old timer, just tell me who you are," said the guard.

"Name's Bonzo Pippinpaddle Lopsacopplis...the third! And these are my grandkids," Aang introduced himself and his friends.

Katara and Gohan soon stepped forward and introduced themselves. "Hi. June Pippinpaddle Lopsacopplis, nice to meet you," said Katara.

"And I'm Shen Pippinpaddle Lopsacopplis," said Gohan.

The guard stroked his beard as he examined the group. "You two seem like responsible young adults. See to it that your grandfather stays out of trouble, enjoy Omashu!" said the guard as he allowed them to pass. "We will," assured Katara. As the group approached the gate, the guard looked at Sokka before saying, "Wait a minute!" He grabbed Sokka's shoulder, stopping the gang and making them turn around. "You're a strong young boy, show some respect for the elderly and carry your grandfather's bag!" ordered the guard to Sokka.

"Good idea!" agreed Aang as he tossed his bag to Sokka.

The guards opened the gate, revealing the city to the gang; the water tribe siblings stared in awe while Aang and Gohan smiled. As the four entered the city, Momo's ears stuck out from the top of Aang's wig, which caused the guard who was watching to put on a confused look as the gate closed. The four observed the city's magnificence. They saw various people, buildings, and slides with things riding down them. "This is the Omashu delivery system," explained Gohan. "Miles and miles of tubes and chutes," They watched as the city's earthbenders directed the crates of supplies through the system. "Earthbending brings the packages up, and gravity brings them down," Gohan continued to explain.

"Great, so they get their mail on time," said an uninterested Sokka.

"They do get their mail on time, but our friend Bumi found a better use for these chutes," said Aang as he smiled wickedly.

 _Flashback- Aang and Gohan were standing with a spiky brown haired kid that wore a headband, a yellow sleeveless top, green wristbands and a belt, and brown pants. The boy turned to his friends and asked,"Look around you, what do you see?"_

 _"Tubes and chutes?" asked Gohan._

 _"Um, the mail system?" asked Aang._

 _"Instead of seeing what they want you to see, you gotta open your brain to the possiblities," advised Bumi._

 _The boys looked at each other and before saying with uncertainty, "The package sending system?"_

 _"The world's greatest super slide!" announced Bumi._

 _"I didn't even think of that possiblity, that's brillant!" said Gohan._

 _"Bumi, you're a mad genius!" said Aang which made Bumi laugh crazily while snorting. Pretty soon the three boys were in a crate cheering and laughing as they rode down the delivery system. Flashback ends_

The gang was soon all in one crate with Aang in front, Gohan behind him, then Katara, and finally Sokka bringing up the rear as they prepared to ride the super slide. "One ride, then it's off to the North Pole. Airbender's honor," promised Aang. "What are we waiting for? Let's do it!" said Gohan. "This sounded like fun at first, but now that I'm here, I'm starting to have second THOOOOUGHTS!" cried Katara seconds before they were sent down the chute. Aang and Gohan were cheering and laughing while the water tribe siblings had strange looks on their faces as the four slid down the mail system. The four were then sliding next to a chute that had a crate of spears riding down it. The slides suddenly mixed with the gang in front and the spears close behind them. Sokka ducked to avoid the spears and Katara leaned forward.

"I'm on it!" said Aang.

He then shifted the crate until it fell off the chute and slid off a rooftop toward Omashu's combat training school. "Men, you'll be going off to combat soon!" said the instructor. "It's important to be prepared for anything!" The gang suddenly bounced off the floor in front of the instructor. They knocked over a crate which hit another crate of food on the system before they landed back on the slide.

"Aang, do something! Use your airbending!" yelled Katara.

"Yeah, good idea! That'll make us go even faster!" said Aang. He then waved his arms, creating a force of wind that pushed their crate faster down the slide. As they continued to slide, they saw a crate of supplies in their path; they screamed in fear of crashing into it. An Earthbender pushed the crate away, giving the gang clear passage. They sighed in relief seconds before another crate appeared and they screamed again. The four teens collided with the crate and were sent flying out of their crate and into the air. Acting fast, the Avatar used his airbending to turn their crate over as the gang landed in it and started sliding down rooftops. Inside a random house, a civilian was busy painting a large vase while whistling. The gang burst through the window, smashed the vase, and fell out the other window.

"Sorry!" cried Aang to the civilian.

They rode through another home and left with a cat-like creature fighting with Momo on Aang's wig. The lemur eventually knocked the creature off seconds before the gang fell off a building. Down below, the cabbage merchant was admiring his cabbages when he heard a noise and looked up. He backed away as the gang fell on top of his cart and squashed his vegetables. "My cabbages!" cried the merchant before he yelled, "You're gonna pay for this!" to the four tangled teens. The guards soon gathered around the dazed teens. "Two cabbages please," said Aang sheepishly.

"Yeah, we're in trouble, bro," said Gohan.

The gang was soon arrested and brought to the Omashu king's palace. The king was a very old man who wore a green robe that covered his whole body aside from his face. He sat at his throne with one guard on his right and left side. Standing right next to his throne was another old man who was his advisor. He had a turtle shell on his back and was holding a purple staff. He also had a full mustache and beard and wore a pair of sun shades. When the gang was presented to him, they all had looks of shame on their faces. The King suddenly held a look of surprise when he saw Aang and Gohan.

"Your majesty, these juveniles were arrested for vandalism, traveling under false pretenses, and malicious destruction of cabbages," explained the guard.

"Off with their heads! One for each head of cabbage!" demanded the merchant.

"Silence! Only the king can pass down judgement!" said the guard before he asked the king, "What is your judgement, sire?"

The old king squinted as he observed the four teens. He looked at Sokka, who making tiny noises with his lips, then at Katara, who tried to pull off a look of innocence, then at Aang, who still had his shameful look, and finally at Gohan, who was a bit nervous about what their sentence would be. The king continued to stare at Aang and Gohan, which made Aang look away and whistle while Gohan thought, _"Why is he staring at us?"_

Finally the king gave his judgement. "Throw them... a feast!" The guards and the merchant groaned while the Airbender and the Waterbender looked at each other in confusion. Sokka smiled a little while Gohan had his mouth open in surprise. "Did he say feast?!" asked the Energy bender.

The gang suddenly found themselves sitting next to each other at a table filled with a lot of food. Momo had already started digging in while the king spoke to the four teens. "The people of my city have gotten fat from too many feasts, so I hope you like your chicken with no skin," he said to Aang. "Thanks, but I don't eat meat," explained Aang. "How about you? I bet you like meat," said the king as he shoved a drumstick into Sokka's mouth; the water tribesman happily started munching on it. The king then turned to Gohan, who was enjoying the feast as he stuffed his face with many plates of food from the table. "Well, I'm glad to see someone is enjoying this feast," said the old king as he patted Gohan's head and went to sit down.

"Is it just me or is this guy's crown a little crooked?" Katara whispered to Aang.

"So tell me young bald one, where are you from?" asked the king.

Aang thought for a moment and replied, "I'm from Kangaroo Island."

"Oh Kangaroo Island, eh? I hear that place is really hopping!" joked the king. For a moment no one did anything until Sokka started laughing which made his companions look at him. "What? It was pretty funny," said the water tribesman. The king yawned and said, "Well all these good jokes are making me tired, guess it's time to hit the hay." The king suddenly tossed a drumstick at Aang; instinctively the Airbender caught it in an air sphere, which made all the guards gasp. "There's an Airbender in our presence, and not just any Airbender, the Avatar!" announced the king. Aang quickly put his arms down and his meat fell to his plate. "Now what do you have to say for yourself, Mr.Pippinpaddle Lopsacopplis?!" asked the king.

With his identity as the Avatar now exposed, Aang got up and said, "Okay, you caught me. I'm the Avatar, doing my Avatar thing, keeping the world safe. Everything checks out." He then peeked under the table as he said, "No Firebenders here." The Avatar continued to talk as he gathered his companions and tried to leave smoothly. "So good work everybody, we love each other, respect all life, and don't run with your spears. We'll see you next time!"

Before the gang could walk out the door, the guards crossed their spears, which blocked their exit. "You can't keep us here, let us leave!" Katara demanded to the king. "Lettuce leaf?" asked the King as he pulled one from his plate and ate it.

"We're in serious trouble, this guy is nuts," Sokka whispered to his friends.

"You were laughing at his jokes a few minutes ago," Gohan whispered back.

"That one was funny, this isn't," replied Sokka.

"Tomorrow the Avatar and his brother will face three challenges-" said the King in a stern voice which made Aang look on in worry while Gohan wondered, _"How did he know we were brothers?!"_ "-but for now, the guards will show you to your chamber." "My liege, do you mean the good chamber or the bad chamber?" asked the guard next to the King. "The newly refurbished chamber," replied the King.

"Wait, which one are we talking about?" asked the confused guard.

"The one that used to be the bad chamber," replied the King, "until the recent refurbishing. Of course we've been calling it the new chamber but we really should number them." He then returned his attention back to the guards that were taking the gang away and ordered, "Take them to the refurbished chamber that was once bad!" He then picked up another lettuce leaf and ate it while his advisor came up to him and asked, "Are you sure they're ready for this?"

"Nope," replied the King.

"So why test them at all?" asked the advisor.

"To see if they're ready or not," said the King.

"How do you think they'll do?" asked the advisor.

"Terrible, but that's just my opinion," said the King.

"You're still very mad," said the advisor.

"True, but who's completely sane in this world?" asked the King as he ate another leaf.

Back with the gang, the guards had taken them to a nice looking room that had four beds before leaving them in a sealed room. "This is a prison cell?" asked the Waterbender. "But it's so nice."

"He did say it was newly refurbished," said Aang.

"Nice or not, we're prisoners," said Sokka.

"Feels more like we're guests than prisoners here," said Gohan.

"I wonder what these challenges are gonna be?" said the monk nervously. "Why'd he say the both of us will face some challenges?" asked Gohan. "Well, we're not sticking around to find out," said Katara. "There's gotta be a way out of here." "It doesn't look like there is; there's no doors or windows unless you're an Earthbender," said Gohan. "Which we aren't," said Sokka. "The air vent!" cried the Airbender as he pointed toward a small circle in the wall. The three looked at each other before looking back at the Avatar.

"If you think we're gonna fit through there, you're crazier than that King," said Sokka.

"We can't, but Momo can," said Aang as he pointed to the pet lemur, who was laying on the bed with a big gut full of food while licking an apple. "Momo, I need you to find Appa and Icarus and bust us out of here," Aang instructed the lemur. He then picked up the small pet and hoisted him into the air vent. Half of Momo's body made it through before he got stuck. Aang repeatedly tried to push Momo through the air vent but to no avail. "Go on boy, get Appa!" said Aang as he pushed one last time before looking down sadly.

"Eh, how were Appa and Icarus supposed to save us anyway?" asked Sokka.

"Appa is a ten ton flying bison, and Icarus is a smart dragon. I'm sure they could figure something out," said Aang as he left the lemur in the air vent.

"Yeah, don't underestimate an animal's intelligence," said Gohan as he went over to the vent and pulled Momo free.

"Well, no point in arguing about it now," said Katara as she climbed into one of the beds. "Get some rest guys, looks like you'll need it for tomorrow." Gohan and Aang were soon in their own beds waiting to fall asleep before facing tomorrow's challenges. The next morning, Aang and Gohan were still sleeping soundly when an Earth guard opened the door, which woke them up. "Katara? Sokka?" called Aang as he saw that his friends were gone.

"Where are our friends?" asked Gohan to the guard.

"The King will free them if you complete your challenges," replied the guard.

"And if we fail?" asked Aang.

"He didn't say. Your staff and sword please?" asked the guard as he held out his hand. Aang picked up his staff and twirled it around before tossing it to the guard while Gohan removed his sheathed blade and handed it to the guard. The boys were then led to the King, who was wearing a different robe than yesterday. "First boys, what do you think of my new outfit? I want your honest opinion," said the King. For a moment, none of the boys had an answer as they observed the King's clothing.

"I'm waiting," said the King.

"I guess it's..." began Gohan before he got stumped and looked toward Aang.

"Fine?" asked Aang as he scratched his head.

"Excellent! You've passed the first test!" said the King.

"Really?" asked the boys.

"Well, not one of the deadly tests," the King corrected himself. "The real challenges are much more... challenging."

Now annoyed, the boys ran up to the King. "We don't have time for your crazy games!" Aang shouted at the King. "Give us back our friends, we're leaving!" "Oh, my advisor warned me that you might refuse, so he told me it would be best to give your friends some special souvenirs," said the King. The water tribe siblings suddenly appeared while two guards held out their wrists and the old advisor stood behind them. "Those delightful rings are made of pure genimite, also known as creeping crystals," said the King as the guards placed the rings on the water siblings' fingers. The rings then shrank down until they were too tight to remove. "It's a crystal that grows remarkably fast," the King continued to explain as the water tribe siblings tried to remove the rings.

"By nightfall, your friends will be completely covered in it. Terrible fate, really; I can stop it, but only if the two of you cooperate," warned the King.

"I suggest you cooperate, the crystals have already started to grow," said the advisor.

"Ah! He's right, it's already creeping!" gasped Sokka as the ring started growing on his finger.

Gohan clenched his fist as he looked toward Aang and nodded slowly. They both looked at the King and said, "We'll do what you want," which made him smirk. A few minutes later, Aang was standing on a ledge in a cave full of stalagmites and stalactites while there was a large waterfall in the center of the cave. The King, the advisor, and a few guards were watching from a balcony along with Aang and Gohan's friends. The King laughed a bit as he looked back at the Water Tribe siblings, whose hands were now covered in crystals.

"It seems I've lost my lunchbox key and I'm hungry!" the King called out to Aang. Looking into the waterfall, they could see the key hanging from a chain in the center of the waterfall. "Oh, there it is! Would you mind fetching it for me?!" asked the King.

With a look of determination, Aang started hopping across stalagmites toward the waterfall. When he made it to the waterfall, he jumped inside and grabbed onto the ladder. The Avatar held his breath as he tried to climb further up the ladder, but the pressure from the pouring cascade was too great. "Ooh, climbing the ladder. No one's thought of that before," said the King sarcastically. Eventually Aang was forced to let go, almost falling onto the pointy stalagmites which would have impaled him, but he managed to save himself by doing a full split in between two stalagmites. The Avatar sighed in relief before looking at his friends, who smiled to see that he was alright. Aang then jumped upward onto the stalactites. He stopped in between two and looked through the cascade at the key. He then jumped at the waterfall in a diving position while spiraling. He dove into the waterfall only to be washed out again and ended up crashing into a stalagmite. He almost fell onto the tip of another one, but he quickly grabbed onto the one he crashed into.

"That's right, keep diving head in. I'm sure it will work eventually," the King said again sarcastically.

"Come on Aang, you can do it!" urged Gohan.

The Airbender looked toward the water as he seemed to have thought of something. He snapped off the pointy half of the stalagmite and stood on the bottom half. He then tossed the stalagmite at the waterfall before creating a wind blade and sending it at the waterfall. The two objects flew toward the waterfall at a high speed; the wind blade cut off the lower part of the chain with the key while the stalagmite caught it and flew all the way to the balcony. It stopped at the top wall which made the key dangle just above the king's head.

"Well played," said the old Advisor.

"There, enjoy your lunch!" yelled Aang. "I want my friends back now!"

"Not yet, I need help with another matter," said the King. "It seems I've lost my dear pet, Flopsy."

"Are you kidding?!" asked Gohan.

Soon, everyone was moved to a different place. It was some sort of playpen that was a giant hole and inside was a small, white rabbit-like creature. It sat on a rock, completely unaware that Aang had just appeared behind it. "Ok, found him!" said Aang. "Bring him to me!" ordered the King. "Daddy wants a kiss from Flopsy!" "Come here, Flopsy," said Aang as he carefully approached the creature. A giant beast suddenly appeared behind the young monk. Aang turned around and laughed nervously at the beast while the rabbit hopped away.

"Is that a Gorilla Goat?!" asked Gohan.

The Gorilla Goat made an attempt to grab Aang, but he quickly backflipped away. When he noticed the rabbit running off, he called, "Flopsy, wait! Flopsy!" and chased after it. The beast soon pursued Aang while the King laughed as he watched. "Flopsy!" yelled Aang as he continued to chase the critter while the beast chased him. Aang eventually tried to grab the rabbit but it escaped into a rabbit hole before he could get it. As he struggled to grab the critter, he stopped and thought for a moment as he said, "Wait a minute." The monk stood up and faced the charging Gorilla Goat with one question: "Flopsy?" The beast immediately stopped in front of Aang while wagging its tail and pulled him into a big hug. It happily licked while Aang exclaimed, "Flopsy!" and petted its head.

The King then whistled to Flopsy, who let go of Aang and ran up to meet the King. Flopsy laid down on his back while the King said, "Aww, that's a good boy. Yes, who has a soft belly?" as he rubbed Flopsy's stomach, which made him stamp his foot with joy. The Avatar climbed out of the playpen, where he was met by his brother. "Nice work, bro," said Gohan.

"Thanks, Gohan," said Aang before he turned to the water tribe siblings and asked, "Guys, are you ok?!"

"Other than the crystal slowly encasing my entire body, doing great," replied Katara.

"You look like you're wearing a dress of crystals," commented Gohan.

Just then, the crystals that covered Sokka grew some more on one side, unbalancing him and making him fall over. "Hey, how come he didn't place a creepy crystal ring on Gohan?!" asked Sokka.

"Because he wants me to take the last challenge with Aang," explained Gohan as he helped Sokka up. "Up until, now he's only made Aang do the challenges, but the last one must be so tough it'll take us both to complete."

"That's well deduced, boy," said the old advisor.

Aang then walked over toward the King and Flopsy and said, "Come on! I'm ready for the next challenge!" which made the King grin wickedly while laughing.

The gang was soon moved to a large arena made completely out of earth. The water tribe siblings stood on a balcony with two guards while Aang and Gohan stood with the King and his advisor on another. "Your final test is a duel. As you already know, you and your brother will participate in this challenge," explained the King. "And as a special treat, you may both choose your opponents." A man with two swords on his back, a spear in his hand, a metal claw hand, and a scar over his left eye soon appeared. Aang looked a little scared while Gohan grew determined. Next, a giant man with a big axe came out. Both warriors stood next to the King and his advisor.

"Point and choose," instructed the King.

"So you're saying whoever we point to, they're the people we get to fight?" asked Aang.

"Choose wisely," warned the King.

"How about I take the guy with the ax and you take the one with the scar?" Gohan asked Aang.

Aang thought about it for a moment and said, "I have a better idea, bro." He then moved his hand to choose their opponents as he said, "We...choose...you two." His finger landed on the King and his advisor. The old men smirked as the King said, "Wrong choice!" The King suddenly stood up straight and removed his robe, revealing his very muscular body. The teens stared at the King with wide eyes and hanging jaws. Soon after, the old advisor took off his shirt and his muscles started to expand until he was twice the size of the King.

"What the what?!" exclaimed Gohan.

With a mighty stomp from the King, the ground split and a small chunk of rock launched Aang onto the arena. "Aang!" cried Gohan. He then turned toward the old men, only to discover the old advisor was standing right in front of him. "Whoa!" said Gohan before he was palm striked into the arena next to Aang. The boys looked up just as the old men jumped onto the arena. "Well, now we've got a real challenge, bro; this was a good idea," said Gohan sarcasticlly.

"You thought I was a frail old man, but I'm the most powerful earthbender you'll ever see!" said the King. "And my advisor is one of the greatest Energy benders in existence!"

"Let this be a lesson boys, don't judge a book by its cover!" said the advisor.

"Can I fight the guy with the axe instead?" asked Aang.

"There are no take backsies in my kingdom," replied the King. "You might need these!" The boys' weapons were tossed to them by the guards. The King pulled three chunks of earth out of the ground and hurled them at the boys, who quickly evaded all three. "Typical Airbender tactic, avoid and evade. I'd hoped the Avatar would be less predictable!" said the King as he launched another rock at the brothers, causing them to seperate. Gohan drew his sword and rushed at the earthbender, but he was cut off by the advisor, who knocked him back with his rod. Aang jumped into the air as he dodged another attack from the King. "Don't you have any surprises for me?!" asked the King. "Sooner or later you'll have to strike back!" The King launched another rock at the Avatar that was dodged, but it smashed into the ceiling and caused some rocks to descend on Aang, which knocked him to the ground and separated him from his staff.

Gohan soon got up and saw his brother was down. He ran to his aid but he was once again cut off by his own opponent's attack. The advisor tried to smash Gohan's head with his rod but the spiky haired teen quickly avoided him. Gohan then jumped into the air and swung his blade at the old energy bender, who blocked the assualt by turning his weapon horizontally. _"He managed to counter my strike with that stick?! Guess he's not just an old man after all!"_ thought Gohan as he swung again. The young fighter continued to swing his weapon at his opponent but the advisor managed to block them all. Eventually the advisor used his stick to knock Gohan's sword out of his hand and pushed him away by jabbing his stomach. Gohan slid on his back before he stood up and grasped his gut.

"Well, without your sword, you seem to be at a disadvantage!" said the King.

"We'll see about that!" challenged Gohan.

He then fired a ki attack that had great force, but the advisor twirled his stick, allowing him to maintain his position. Gohan growled as the King taunted, "What's wrong? Giving up already?! Is this really the best you can do?!" "I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT I CAN DO!" yelled Gohan angrily as he charged at the old energy bender. The young fighter attempted to strike his opponent with multiple blows but he blocked all of them with his turtle staff.

Back with Aang, he soon got up and ran toward the King, who started creating earth spikes from the ground. Aang avoided most of them but got hit by the last one. "Ah, you'll have to be a little more creative than that!" said the King. Aang came down riding on his air scooter; he rode up the wall and sent an airbending strike at his opponent, but he managed to block the strong gale blast with a rock wall. "Did someone leave the windows open? It feels a little drafty in here!" said the King. "Are you hoping I'll catch a cold?!" The King sent a rock wave at Aang; he jumped to dodge it but was knocked down by it anyway. The old Earthbender sent another attack, which the Avatar dodged by bouncing off the ground, then the wall, before he grabbed his staff.

"How are going to get me from way over there?!" asked the King.

Accepting the challenge, Aang started running toward the crazy Earthbender at a high speed. Meanwhile, Gohan was throwing punches and kicks at the old energy bender. Eventually the advisor kicked Gohan away; the spiky haired teen quickly countered by firing a ki blast at his opponent. The old fighter grabbed the blast with one hand and threw it back at Gohan, who was too surprised to avoid it so he blocked it. Getting angry, Gohan fired his own gale force attacks, which the advisor dodged by jumping into the air. The young fighter immediately jumped after him but was blasted away by a blue ki beam from the old advisor.

"Your anger can make you stronger, but if you lose control of it, your actions become too predictable!" warned the advisor.

"How's this for predictable?!" cried Gohan as he started spinning his entire body around. The constant rotation turned him into a small orange tornado that was advancing on the advisor. The old energy bender put down his stick and positioned his hands toward the tornado; it rotated against his palms until it slowed down to the point where the advisor managed to grab Gohan's wrist and fling him across the arena. Gohan quickly landed on his feet at the spot where his sword was; he picked it up just in time to turn it horizontally and block an energy blast from the advisor with it. The spiky haired swordsman rushed at his opponent with his blade drawn but the advisor simply blocked it with his stick.

"You need to relax in a fight, boy, let your instincts take over and guide you to victory," advised the old fighter before he pushed Gohan away. The young energy bender was about to charge again but he stopped to think for a moment. _"He's right, I can't let my anger get the best of me! I need to focus on what I'm doing and that's fighting!"_ thought Gohan. He sheathed his sword as he closed his eyes for a second while taking a deep breath. His eyes suddenly shot open, now filled with new determination. The young fighter began rotating his entire body while approaching the advisor, who postioned his hands toward the tornado again. However, this time when the tornado hit the old man's hands, it immediately slowed down and it was Gohan who grabbed the advisor's wrist. The young energy bender smirked as he tossed his opponent into the arena wall. The advisor crashed into the wall and stuck there; he looked up in time to see Gohan coming at him with the intent of kicking him.

The impact from Gohan's attack caused a dust cloud to burst around him and the advisor. When it cleared, Gohan saw the advisor blocking his kick with both hands. He then jumped away and fired a Masenko while the advisor countered with his own ki blast.

Back with the Avatar, the King softened the ground which turned it into quicksand, causing Aang to stop running and sink to his waist. The earthbender then sent two huge stones, one from the left and one from the right, at the airbender, who was struggling to escape his ground restrains. When he noticed the two flying rocks, Aang quickly swirled and airbent himself above the rocks just before they could crush him with their collision. For a second nothing happened, but Aang soon jumped out and with a mighty yell, he nailed the King with a gale force strike that knocked him into the areana wall. The King countered by bending a large rock at Aang from behind. The young monk quickly jumped and backflipped, just barely clearing the boulder, which meant it was now coming at the King. The old earthbender crossed his arms to defend himself, causing the boulder to disintegrate into dust.

Returning to Gohan, he and the advisor were firing energy blasts at each other. Eventually Gohan managed to fire a stronger blast that the old fighter couldn't counter with a simple ki blast, so he was forced to block it. When the smoke cleared, the advisor looked in time to see Gohan thrust his palm forward, which created an invisible strike that nailed the advisor in the chest and pushed him back a bit. The old energy bender then stabbed his stick into the dirt and clapped his hands together as he channeled ki into his hands.

His hands began to spark with yellow electricity as he slowly separated them. He then fired an electric ki blast at the spiky haired teen, who jumped into the air to dodge it. However, this left him open for the second electric ki blast that the old man threw at him. Instictively, Gohan pulled out his sword and positioned it in front of himself horizontally. The blast hit the blade and was suddenly absorbed into it; Gohan's sword sparked as the energy swam through it.

Gohan swung his sword with all his might, creating a yellow curved ki attack that flew at the advisor. Acting quick, the advisor placed his hands forward and caught the redirected attack before tossing it aside. Gohan smirked as he maintained his position in the air, which the advisor noticed. "TRY THIS BOY!" cried the old fighter as he cupped his hands together and focused his energy into them. **"KA...ME...HA...ME...HA!"** shouted the advisor as he fired a blue beam at the young energy bender. Gohan just smiled as he swung his sword at the beam, slicing it in half, and making it sail past him without harming him.

He then smirked as he said, "My turn, gramps!" as he threw his sword into the air and placed his hands above his head while conducting ki into them. He then yelled, **"MASENKO...HA!"** as he fired a gold beam at the old fighter.

The advisor used his hands to push against the blast and direct it upward. Now that his opponent's guard was down, Gohan caught his weapon and charged at the old ki user with a skull bash attack. The advisor quickly crossed his arms and blocked Gohan's assault; the young reacted quicker by immediately kicking his opponent away and charging at him with his sword drawn.

Meanwhile, the King attempted one last attack; with all his might, he separated the large part of the balcony from the wall. Aang quickly ran around in a circle while airbending, making a strong dust tornado. The old earthbender threw the large rock at the airbender but the tornado caught it and threw it back at him. The King clapped his hands together and split the rock apart; the Avatar suddenly jumped and pointed his staff at him preventing him from making another move. The King held up his hands as he looked behind him to see his advisor pushed back a few inches behind himself while Gohan pointed his sword at the old fighter so that he wouldn't try anything. The old men looked up and grinned which confused the boys until a pebble fell on Aang's head. The brothers looked up and saw a large rock hovering above their heads; its only support was the King's eartbending. The battle ended in a stalemate.

"Well done boys, you fight with much fire in your hearts!" complimented the King.

"Your skills are impressive, your intelligence is adequate, and your determination is most admirable!" said the advisor.

The King tossed the rock aside before sinking underground while his advisor disappeared. The old men reappeared on the balcony with Katara and Sokka just before Aang and Gohan climbed up.

"You've passed all my tests," said the King. "Now you both must answer one final question."

"That's not fair! You said you would release my friends if I finished your tests!" argued Aang.

"Oh, but what's the point of tests if you don't learn anything?" asked the King.

"Oh, come on!" complained Sokka.

"It's true! Those tests' purposes were meant to teach you something," said the advisor.

"Like what?" asked Gohan.

His question was ignored as the King spoke again. "Answer this one question and I will set your friends free," promised the King. "What... is my name?" The boys looked worried about having to answer that question. "By the looks of your friends I'd say you both only have a few minutes," said the King as he and his advisor walked away, leaving the teens alone. "How are we supposed to know his name?" asked Aang to his friends. "Think about the challenges, maybe it's some kind of riddle!" advised Katara.

"Yeah, the answer is in the tests somehow," agreed Gohan.

Sokka thought for a moment before he said, "I got it!"

"Yeah?" asked Aang.

"He's an earthbender, right? Rocky!" replied Sokka. No one found it funny. "You know, because of all the rocks."

"Not funny, man!" said Gohan.

"We're gonna keep trying but that is a good backup!" said Katara.

"Ok, so back to the challenges!" said Aang. "I got a key from a waterfall, I saved his pet, and my brother and I had a duel!"

"And what did you learn?" asked Katara.

"Well, everything was different than I expected," said Aang.

"Nothing was simple, it was all new to us," said Gohan.

"And?!" urged Katara as the crystal around her grew.

"Well, they weren't straightforward. To solve each test, I had to think differently than I usually would," said Aang.

"Yeah, like looking at things from a different angle, like looking at a new perspective, like..." said Gohan as he thought deeply for a moment. "I know his name!" said the brothers at the same time. Soon the gang was back in the throne room where Aang and Gohan spoke to the King. "We solved the question the same way I solved the challenges," explained Aang. "As you told us a long time ago," said Gohan before both boys said, "We had to open our brains to the possiblities!" The King started laughing crazily while snorting. "I can't believe it was you the whole time!" said Gohan. "Bumi, you're a mad genius!" said Aang.

The boys then ran up and hugged their long lost friend. "Aw Aang, Gohan, it's good to see you both," said Bumi as he embraced the boys. "You guys haven't changed a bit, literally." Just then the water tribe siblings approached the three friends, almost completely covered in crystals.

"Uh, over here!" called Katara.

"Little help!" said Sokka.

King Bumi pulled his arm back and the crystals around the water tribe siblings burst off their bodies completely. "Genimite is made of rock candy," said Bumi as he grabbed one and ate it. "Delicious." "So Bumi, who's the old man with the turtle shell?" asked Gohan as he ate some rock candy. "Aang, Gohan, this is my advisor, Master Roshi," said Bumi as he introduced Roshi to his friends. "He's an old energy bender who has helped me a lot in this war. He's not a bad advisor, but he can be... a little naughty with the ladies."

"It's an honor to meet you, master Roshi," said Gohan as he bowed to the turtle master.

"It's an honor to meet you, young man, Bumi's told me so much about you two," said Roshi as he bowed back.

"So this crazy king is your old friend Bumi?" asked Katara.

"Who you calling old?" asked Bumi before admitting it. "Ok, I'm old."

"Why did you do all this, instead of telling Aang and Gohan who you were?" asked Sokka.

"First of all, it's pretty fun messing with people," chuckled Bumi. "But I do have a reason." He then turned to Aang and Gohan as he said, "Aang, you have a difficult task ahead; the world has changed in the hundred years you've been gone. It's the duty of the Avatar to restore balance to the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai. You have much to learn; you must master the four elements and confront the Fire Lord, and when you do, I hope you will think like a mad genius!" Aang smiled before bowing to Bumi. The crazy King then turned to Gohan and said, "Don't think you're getting away scot-free Gohan, more energy benders are popping up ever since they were wiped out many millienia ago. Which means it's your destiny to guide them and reintroduce them to the world so that people may view energy as an element again. I know you'll do well." Gohan also smiled as he bowed.

"And it looks like you're both in good hands, you'll need your friends' help to complete your destinies," said Roshi. Momo suddenly jumped onto Aang's shoulder. "And you'll need Momo too," said Bumi.

"Thank you both for your wisdom, but before we go..." Gohan started to say.

"We have a challenge for you, Bumi," Aang finished saying.

The three old friends were soon in a cart riding down the world's greatest super slide. They laughed and cheered as they relived the good old days, until they crashed into the cabbage merchant's cabbage cart.

"MY CABBAGES!" cried the merchant.

 **A/N: Ok! Finally done with this chapter, good thing too cause now my hands are sore from typing. Sorry to keep all my readers waiting and posting a new story before this chapter, don't worry though, I said I wouldn't stop writing this fanfic and I won't! I've got big ideas. Sorry if some of you were expecting Gohan to partake in his own challenges but I couldn't think of any good onesband the duel between him and Roshi was meant to be more like a training session for him. That's all for now! Keep reading my stories and please send your reviews! TTFN, AntiHero out!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Whew! Finally made time to continue this fanfic.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z or Avatar**

 **Chapter 6**

The Benders were nested in a forest while they patiently waited for Sokka to return with whatever food he could scavenge. Aang was lying against a tree root, Katara was folding up her sheet by a small waterfall, and Gohan was sharpening his sword with a rock. Appa was resting beside Aang and Icarus curled up with Gohan. The water tribesman soon showed up with a small bag while Momo flew after him.

"Hey Sokka," greeted Gohan.

"Great you're back!" said Aang as he jumped down from the tree root. The benders all gathered around Sokka as he opened his bag of food. "We've got a few options," said Sokka as he pulled out nuts from his bag. "First, round nuts, and some kind of oval shaped nuts, and some rock shaped nuts that might just be rocks." Sokka tossed the rock/nut away; it landed beside the lemur bat, who was munching on a leaf. "Dig in!" said Sokka to his friends. The benders looked at the nuts in confusion before Gohan asked, "Are you kidding? How can you feed us this stuff?"

"Seriously, what else you got?" asked Katara, making her brother look back into his bag. Momo picked up the rock/nut and tried to crack it open by banging it on a boulder. When he banged it hard against the boulder, all his fur stood up as a loud rumbling noise was heard.

"What was that?!" asked Sokka.

Now curious and confused, the lemur gently dropped the rock/nut on the boulder; he got the same results as before. "It's coming from over there!" said Aang as he pointed to the east. The benders quickly got up and followed the noise while Sokka asked, "Shouldn't we run away from huge booms, not toward them?!" before Momo flew after them. The gang peeked from behind a tree root and saw a young man practicing earthbending. He was dark skinned with long brown hair at the back, a bun on top, and two bangs in front. He wore gray long sleeved shirt and pants. He also wore a green and yellow vest over his shirt, and a green headband. The boy hoisted the rock into the air and pushed it into the wall.

"An Earthbender," said Katara.

"Let's go meet him," suggested Aang.

"He looks dangerous, so we'd better approach cautiously," said Sokka.

"Uh, Sokka..." said Gohan as he pointed toward the Waterbender, who already went to greet the Earthbender."HELLO THERE, MY NAME'S KATARA! WHAT'S YOUR NAME?!" greeted the Water Tribe girl. The Earthbender looked at Katara in fear before he ran off and used earthbending to block the path in case they followed him. The others soon appeared next to Katara as Aang yelled, "Nice to meet you!"

"I just wanted to say hi," said Katara.

"Maybe he's shy," said Gohan.

"Hey! That guy's gotta be running somewhere," said Aang. "Maybe we're near a village, and I bet the village has a market."

"Which means no nuts for dinner!" said Katara joyfully.

"Yes! Real food!" cheered Gohan as the three benders ran off to find the mystery Earthbender's village. "Hey! I worked hard to find those nuts!" said Sokka indignantly before Momo flew past him and he slouched over and followed his friends while saying, "Nah, I hate 'em too." The gang was soon looking around in an Earth Village. Aang was making a deal with a merchant for a hat he wanted. "Great hat, I'll trade you some nuts for it," Aang offered the merchant. Just then, Katara spotted the Earthbender they saw earlier going into a shop. "Hey!" said Katara, getting her friends' attention as she went toward the shop.

Inside, the Earthbender approached an older woman who was arranging things. "Hi mom," greeted the boy to the woman. "Where have you been, Haru? You're late!" the woman said to the boy. "Get started on your chores!" Katara suddenly entered the shop and spoke to Haru. "Hey, you're that kid. Why'd you run away earlier?" Surprised and scared, Haru tried to convince Katara otherwise as he said, "You must have me confused with some other kid." "No she doesn't," assured the Avatar as the rest of the gang entered the shop. "We saw you earthbending." Haru and his mother were both surprised now, and the latter quickly closed the doors and windows in response. "They saw you doing what?!" Haru's mother asked her son.

"They're crazy mom, I mean look at how they're dressed!" said Haru which made the gang check their clothing. "I don't see how the way we're dressed has to do with the fact that we saw you earthbending," said Gohan. "You know how dangerous that is," the mother warned Haru. "You know what would happen if they caught you earthbending!"

Suddenly, someone started knocking at the door. "Open up!" the person ordered from outside the shop. Sokka peeked out the window and saw fire soldiers. "Fire Nation! Act natural!" Sokka instructed everyone. Haru's mother opened the door and the fire soldiers came in; they saw Sokka and Haru inspecting an item, Katara eating from a basket of berries, Gohan checking out things from the shelf, and Aang leaning against a barrel or water while smiling widely before he slipped.

"What do you want?!" Haru's mother asked the fire captain, clearly upset. "I've already paid you this week!"

"The tax just doubled, and we wouldn't want an accident, would we?" said the captain as he manifested fire in his palms. The flame grew slightly as he pretended to struggle trying to contain it. "Fire, sometimes so hard to control."

No longer upset but now fearful, Haru's mother brought out a chest of coins and opened it. She handed the money to the fire captain, and he took them before picking out some and dumping them on the ground. "You can keep the copper coins," he said as he walked away smirking, probably unaware of the mean looks the gang was giving him. "Nice guy," said Sokka sarcastically before he asked, "How long has the fire nation been here?"

"Five years!" Haru's mother replied. "Fire Lord Ozai uses our town's coal mines to fuel his ships!"

"They're thugs. They steal from us, and everyone here is too much of a coward to do anything about it!" commented Haru, upset.

"Quiet, Haru!" the mother ordered her son. "Don't talk like that."

"But Haru's an Earthbender, he can help!" Katara reasoned.

"Earthbending is forbidden. It's caused nothing but misery for this village!" said the mother. "He must never use his abilities!"

"How can you say that? Haru has a gift! Asking him not to earthbend is like asking me not to waterbend. It's a part of who we are!" argued Katara.

"You don't understand!" said Haru's mother.

"I understand that Haru can help you fight back! What can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't done to you already?!" asked Katara.

"They could take Haru away! Like they took his father!" warned the mother. Haru glared as he turned away in hurt.

The gang was taken to Haru's home in order to get some rest. Haru led them to an inn full of hay and said, "My mom said you can sleep here tonight, but you should leave in the morning." "Thanks!" said the Airbender. "I'll make sure Appa doesn't eat all your hay!" The Sky Bison was busy munching on said object when he heard what Aang said; he stopped for a moment before deciding he was too hungry and went back to eating the hay.

A little later, Haru and Katara were taking a walk together while talking. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier, I didn't know about your father," Katara apologized. "That's okay," said Haru. "It's funny, the way you were talking back at the store, it reminded me of him." "Thanks," said Katara. "My father was very courageous," Haru continued. "When the Fire Nation invaded, he and the other Earthbenders were outnumbered 10 to 1, but they fought back anyway." "He sounds like a great man," complimented Katara. The two stopped walking and Haru sat on top of a hill. "After the attack, they rounded up my father and every other Earthbender and took them away. We haven't seen them since."

"That's why you hide your earthbending," deduced Katara.

"Yeah," Haru replied as he picked up two rocks. "Problem is, the only way I can feel close to my father now, is when I practice my bending." Haru bended the two rocks through the air and then crushed them into sand as he spoke. "He taught me everything I know." Katara took a seat next to Haru. "See this necklace?" she asked as she placed her hand on her memento to show to Haru. "My mother gave it to me."

"It's beautiful," said Haru.

"I lost my mother in a Fire Nation Raid. This necklace is all I have left of her," Katara said sadly.

"It's not enough, is it?" asked Haru sympathetically.

"No," replied Katara.

The two benders resumed their walk when suddenly they heard a loud noise. "Help!" cried someone. "The mines!" said Haru as he and Katara ran toward the coal mines. There they saw a small old man trapped under a pile of rubble while more sand continued to fall. "Help me!" the old man begged when he saw the teens running toward him. Haru pressed his body against falling earth while Katara attempted to pull the old man free. "It's not working, we have to get help!" said Katara.

"There's no time, pull harder!" argued Haru.

"Haru, there's a way you can help," said Katara.

"I can't," Haru said uncertainly.

"Please, there's no one around to see you! It's the only way!" Katara urged her friend.

Haru seemed hesitant at first, but after a moment, he moved away from the mines and took an earthbending stance. Eventually the rock slide stopped; Haru then thrust his fists forward and pushed all the earth back into the mine entrance. "Haru, you did it!" said Katara. The two benders quickly assisted the old man and carried him back to the village.

Later at the inn, the gang was getting ready for bed. Momo jumped down from the window and rested on Appa's back with Aang, Gohan rested against a sleeping Icarus, Sokka was on a pile of hay with a sheet, and Katara lay on the floor in a sheet with a lamp on. "It was so brave of Haru to use his earthbending to help that old man," said Katara.

"You must've really inspired him," said Aang.

"I guess so," said Katara.

"Everyone should get some sleep, we're leaving at dawn," Sokka instructed the gang.

"Dawn?! Can't we sleep in for once?!" asked Katara.

"Absolutely not!" answered Sokka. "This village is crawling with Fire Nation Troops. If they discover you're here, Aang, we'll be eating fireballs for breakfast! Goodnight."

"I rather eat fireballs than nuts," joked Katara.

"Goodnight!" Sokka said again.

The three benders laughed at Katara's joke before she blew out the lamp and they all went to sleep. Late at night while the gang was soundly asleep, Fire Nation troops were approaching Haru's home. Gohan and Icarus suddenly woke up to the sound of footsteps from outside. _"Someone's coming; it could the Fire Nation,"_ thought Gohan before he said, "Icarus, stay here!" The energy bender quickly picked up his sword and ran outside without waking up anyone else.

The Fire Soldiers came up to Haru's house and knocked on the door. The Earthbender opened the door and gasped when he saw Fire Nation troops and the old man he saved. "That's him! That's the Earthbender!" said the old man as he pointed to Haru. The Fire captain moved the old man aside and grabbed Haru. The Fire Soldiers were marching Haru away from his house when a ki blast suddenly cut them off. "What was that?!" asked the captain. The spiky haired soon revealed himself as he jumped in front of the Fire Soldiers and took a fighting position. _"I thought they'd be here for Aang, but it's Haru they came for,"_ thought Gohan when he saw the Earthbender with his hands bound in the Fire Soldiers' custody. "What are you doing out here at this time of night, boy?! Isn't it past your bedtime?!" asked the captain.

Instead of answering, Gohan just asked, "Why are you arresting Haru? He hasn't done anything wrong!"

"Last I checked, he's an Earthbender that was seen earthbending," replied the captain. "And earthbending is forbidden!"

"He didn't have a choice! Was he supposed to let the old man die in the mines? He did the right thing!" argued Gohan.

"Too bad. 'Cause now he's going to prison for it!" said the Captain.

"I won't let you take him! Let him go!" ordered Gohan.

"Listen kid, we're only here for the Earthbender! So do yourself a favor and stay out of our way!" the Fire Captain warned Gohan.

The Energy bender looked over at Haru and saw the old man standing by him. "You must be the old man he saved; how could you rat him out like this?!" Gohan asked the old man. Gohan became angry as he looked at the old man. He gritted his teeth as he clenched his fist. The ground started to shake a little bit as Gohan's ki started to swarm his body. Gohan's rage increased as small pieces of earth began to levitate around him. The Fire Soldiers, Haru, and the old man stared at Gohan with looks of astonishment. "What going with this kid?!" asked the Captain. "Haru risked his identity as an Earthbender for you! He saved your life!" Gohan said angrily. "And this is how you repay him!" Now furious, Gohan's long, spiky hair stood up as white energy appeared on his body. Six large chunks of earth suddenly shot out of the ground and levitated beside Gohan, which made all who witnessed it gasp.

"Th-That boy's earthbending!" said the Captain. "He's an Earthbender, arrest him!"

Gohan roared at the Fire soldiers and launched the chunks of earth at them. They all rolled away from Gohan's attack before the six soldiers surrounded the Energy bender while the Captain held Haru. The Fire Soldiers all pointed their spears at Gohan, who brought out his sword as he prepared to fight. After a moment, Gohan charged at one of the soldiers with his sword ready. The first soldier tried to jab Gohan, but he blocked the attack and kicked him in the face, knocking him out. The second soldier rushed at the Energy bender, who countered by throwing his sword at him.

The soldier quickly dodged it but was met with a surprised elbow bash to the face. The soldier collapsed on one knee as he grasped his face. The third soldier tried to jab at Gohan while running, but when he got close to the spiky haired teen, Gohan swung his sword and cut off the front part of the soldier's spear. The soldier looked at his broken weapon before Gohan punched him in the face. The fourth soldier attempted to get Gohan from behind, but the young fighter grabbed the spear without turning around.

The soldier struggled to take back his weapon before he was hit in the forehead and knocked out by the hilt of Gohan's sword. The Energy bender turned to face the last two soldiers, who seemed hesitant to attack but they did anyway. The soldiers charged at Gohan and tried to stab him with their spears but he managed to block them with his blade. The soldiers pushed at Gohan while he pushed back; his energy started to form around his body as two large chunks of earth ascended from the ground beside Gohan. Before he could use them to attack the soldiers, the Fire Captain shouted, "Hold it right there, boy!" Gohan turned around and saw the Captain with his arm wrapped tightly around Haru's neck. "Surrender now or else..." warned the Captain as he created a fire dagger and pointed it at Haru who tried to inch away from it. "We wouldn't want an accident, would we?"

Gohan glared at the Captain as he grew angrier, but seeing his friend in that state forced him to calm himself and stand down. He stabbed his sword into the ground and held up his hands to show that he was surrendering. The Captain smirked as he gestured to the two soldiers to take Gohan. Soon, both Gohan and Haru were being marched out of the village onto a Fire Navy ship. "I'm sorry Haru," said Gohan shamefully. "Don't be; you did your best, Gohan," said Haru. "Thanks for trying to save me." The boys smiled at each other until they felt the ship suddenly vibrate.

The ship began to set sail and the two boys looked back at the village as they moved farther away from it. "Goodbye mother," Haru whispered sadly as he closed his eyes and hung his head in despair. Gohan looked at the village, his face still showing some faith as he hoped his brother and friends would try to save them.

The next morning, Katara went over to a faucet while carrying a vase. Using her waterbending, she pulled out water and placed it into the vase. She picked it up just as she noticed Haru's mother standing in the distance. The old woman turned and faced Katara as she started crying; the Waterbender's eyes grew wide and she dropped the vase of water as she realized why the mother was sad.

Inside the inn, Aang and Sokka were packing their things when Katara suddenly came through the door. "They took him, they took Haru away!" said Katara. "What?!" asked Aang. "The old man turned him in to the Fire Nation! It's all my fault, I forced him into earthbending! And now they've got Gohan too!" Katara said very fast. "Slow down, Katara," said Sokka as he tried to calm down his sister. "When did this happen?" "Haru's mother said they came for him at midnight. Gohan came out to stop them and they thought he was an Earthbender, so they arrested him too." "Then it's too late to track them, they're long gone," said Sokka.

"So what do we do? We need to save them!" urged Aang.

"We will, but we don't need to track them. The Fire Nation's going to take me right to them," said Katara.

"And why would they do that?" asked Aang.

"Because they're going to arrest me for earthbending!" answered Katara which made the guys look at each other in worry and confusion. A few moments later, the water tribe siblings were at one of the mines pushing a boulder onto an air vent. "I thought you were crazy at first, Katara, but this might work," Sokka said before he began explaining her plan. "There are ventilation shafts throughout these mines; all Aang has to do is send an air current from that vent to this one right here. The boulder levitates and ta-da, fake earthbending!"

"Aang, did you get all that?" Katara asked the monk, who was playing with a butterfly.

"Sure, sure. I got it," replied Aang as he snapped wind at the insect.

"Do you remember your cue?" asked Sokka.

"Yeah, yeah, just relax. You're taking all the fun out of this," said Aang.

"By this, do you mean intentionally getting captured by an army of ruthless Firebenders?" asked Sokka.

"Exactly, that's fun stuff!" replied Aang.

Just then, the gang saw three Fire soldiers coming their way. "Here they come! Get to your places!" ordered Sokka which they all did. The Fire soldiers kept walking until they saw Katara and Sokka pretending to causally walk and bump into each other. "Get out of my way, pipsqueak!" Sokka said with a fake grumpy voice. "How dare you call me pipsqueak, you giant eared cretin!" Katara yelled back. The Fire soldiers just stared at the two kids, not sure what to make of the scene. "What did you call me?!" asked Sokka. "A giant eared cretin!" Katara repeated. "Look at those things! Do herds of animals use those as shades?!"

"You'd better back off!" Sokka warned his sister before he whispered, "Seriously, back off."

"I will not back off! I bet elephants come together to make fun of how big your ears are!" said Katara.

"That's it! You're going down!" said Sokka.

"I'll show you who's boss..." said Katara before she took a pose and shouted out, "Earthbending style!" When nothing happened she looked over to where Aang was hiding and repeated herself. "I said, Earthbending style!" Aang gasped before he quickly shot air into the vent in front of him. The boulder on the other vent began to rise as Momo licked himself. "That lemur, he's earthbending!" said one of the soldiers, making Momo look up in confusion. "No you idiot, it's the girl!" Sokka said as he gestured to his sister. "Oh right, of course." said the soldier, clearly embarrassed. "I'll hold her!" said Sokka as he grabbed Katara in order to give secret instructions. "You've got twelve hours to find Haru and Gohan. We'll be right behind you." The soldiers then took the fake Earthbender away while Aang and Sokka watched.

Katara looked back at her friends while they continued to watch her go. Sokka then played with his ears before he pointed at the lemur and said, "Momo, you have some big ears!"

Katara was put in a prisoner's outfit and taken onto a wagon through the village. Many of the villagers were wearing hats. Two of them were Aang and Sokka, who watched Katara go onto a Fire Navy ship before they followed it on Appa. They hid in the clouds as they followed the ship to a fire prison/coal rig in the middle of the ocean. As they flew, Aang had a worried look on his face, which Sokka noticed. "She'll be fine, Aang," Sokka assured his friend. "Katara knows what she's doing. Plus she'll have Gohan to watch her back."

At the prison, the new prisoners were lined up to meet the warden. All the prisoners aside from Katara had depressed looks on their faces. An old Firebender soon approached the benders and spoke. "Earthbenders, it is my pleasure to welcome you aboard my modest ship yard. I am your Warden. I prefer to think of you not as prisoners, but as honored guests, and I hope you come to think of me as your humble and caring host. You will succeed here if you simply abide by..." the Warden was interrupted by an old Earthbender coughing.

The host unleashed a flame at the old Earthbender's feet, forcing him to back away. "What kind of guest dishonors his host by interrupting him?!" asked the Warden before he ordered the soldiers, "Take him below! One week in solitude will improve his manners."

The soldiers carried the old Earthbender away while the Warden continued to address his guests. "Simply treat me with the courtesy I give you and we'll get along famously." He got directly in Katara's face and smirked when she glared at him. "You will notice, Earthbenders, that this rig is made entirely out of metal. You are miles away from any rock or earth!" the Warden explained to the prisoners as he led them through the rig. There were many earthbending prisoners that were chained and working to improve the rig. "So, if you have any illusions about employing that brutish savagery that passes as bending among you people, forget them. It is impossible."

Katara looked out to the sea and saw that the Warden was right; there wasn't any earth close by. The prisoners' tour ended at the gate of the prison where the Warden smirked at them and said, "Good day." He then walked away as the prisoners were placed inside the prison. The gate closed as Katara looked back.

She looked around until one of the prisoners recognized her. "Katara?!" asked a surprised Haru. "Haru!" exclaimed the Waterbender as she hugged him. "What are you doing here?!" asked Haru. "It's my fault you were captured; I came to rescue you," explained Katara. "So, you got yourself arrested?!" Haru asked again. "It was only way to find you," Katara replied. "Got guts, Katara, I'll give you that," said Haru. "Where's Gohan?" asked Katara. Haru pointed over to a spot in the rig where the Energy bender was practicing his fighting skills. "He's been at it ever since we were thrown in here. The Warden tries to ignore him but I think it ticks him off that Gohan's spirit isn't broken," Haru explained. "He seems strong, is he an Earthbender?"

"No, he's an Energy bender," Katara replied.

Haru stared at Katara as she ran up to her friend. When he noticed her, Gohan stopped training and ran to hug her. "Katara, you're here!" said Gohan as they embraced each other. "Thank goodness you're alright Gohan," said Katara. "If you're here, then the others must be close by," assumed Gohan. "Don't worry, we have an escape plan," Katara assured her friend. Haru then came up to them and said, "Come on, there's someone I want you to meet." The three benders came up to a man who was eating dinner. "Katara, this is my father, Tyro. Dad, this is Katara, Gohan's friend," Haru introduced the two to each other. "It's an honor to meet you," said Katara while bowing.

Tyro smiled brightly before offering a bowl of chow to the Waterbender. "Have some dinner, Katara." Katara accepted the offer while Gohan said, "You might not like it." Katara inspected the dinner and made a face. "It's not as bad as it looks," assured Tyro. Katara took a spoonful and ate; she gagged immediately. "It's still pretty bad though," Tyro said while smiling. "Told you, the food here is terrible!" said Gohan.

A fellow Earthbender suddenly came behind Tyro and tapped his shoulder. "Tyro, the prisoners are complaining that there aren't enough blankets to go around," said the Earthbender. "I'll talk to the guards," said Tyro. "In the meantime, make sure the elderly are taken care of. The rest of us will simply have to hope for warmer weather." "If you don't mind me asking, what's your escape plan?" Katara questioned Tyro.

"Excuse me?" replied Tyro.

"You know, the plan to get everyone off the rig? What is it? Mutiny? Sabotage?" Katara continued to ask.

"The plan? The plan is to survive and wait out this war. And hope that one day some of us can get back home and forget this ever happened," answered Tyro.

"How can you say that?" asked Katara in disbelief. "You sound like you've already given up!"

"Katara, I admire your courage; your friend asked me the same thing when we met. I also envy your youth, but people's lives are at stake here," said Tyro. "The Warden is a ruthless man and he will not stand for any rebellion. I'm sorry, but we're powerless."

"We'll see about that!" said a determined Katara. She then got up and grabbed Gohan's wrist before walking away. "What are you doing?" Gohan asked Katara. "You'll see," she replied. The Waterbender climbed onto a stand, grabbed a spoon and a trash lid, and banged them together to get everyone's attention. "Earthbenders! You don't know me, but I know of you!" said Katara to the prisoners. "Every child in my water tribe village was rocked to sleep with stories about the brave Earth Kingdom." Her words seemed to grab everyone's interest. "And the courageous Earthbenders who guard its borders! Some of you may think that the Fire Nation has made you powerless." A Fire soldier was about to intervene but the Warden motioned for him to stop as he watched.

"Yes, they've taken away your ability to bend," Katara continued. "But they cannot take away your courage, and it is your courage they should truly fear! Because it runs deeper than any mine they have forced you to dig, any ocean that keeps you far from home. It is the strength of your heart that makes you who you are, hearts that will remain unbroken when all rock and stone has eroded away! The time to fight back is now! I can tell you that the Avatar has returned, so remember your courage, Earthbenders! Let us fight for our freedom!"

"Yeah!" cheered Gohan as he raised his fist in the air with Katara.

The only response they got was a cough from an Earthbender, but everyone else just went back to what they were doing. Katara stared at the Earthbenders in shock before her facial expression changed to depression, as did Haru's. The Warden smiled as he walked away. Gohan tried to comfort Katara by placing a hand on her shoulder. "You did your best, but you're not an Earthbender. You don't understand how hopeless the situation is to them," said Gohan. "With no earth, they can't fight with their bending. Plus this place is filled with Fire Nation soldiers; how are they supposed to fight them?" The two climbed off the stand and got ready for bed.

Late at night, the light from the watchtower circled the rig as the prisoners went to sleep. The Avatar climbed onto the rig as he spotted Katara and Gohan. He quietly approached them and woke them up; when they looked up, they saw Aang instructing them to stay quiet. The three benders snuck over to the side of the rig where Sokka was waiting on Appa.

"Your twelve hours are up. Where's Haru, we gotta get out of here," Sokka said as he offered Katara his hand. Aang and Gohan jumped onto Appa, but Katara seemed hesitant. "I can't," she said. "We don't have much time, there are guards everywhere. Get on!" Sokka urged his sister. Katara made no attempt to move but stood still. "Katara, what's wrong?" asked Aang. "I'm not leaving," said Katara which shocked Sokka and Aang. "I'm not giving up on these people."

"What do you mean you're not leaving?!" asked Sokka as they all knelt down at the side of the rig. "We can't abandon these people, there has to be a way to help them!" urged Katara. "Maybe she's right," said Aang. "She is," said Gohan. "These people are struggling to survive. If we don't help them, who knows if they'll even make it through the war?" "What do you say, Sokka?" asked Aang. "I say you're all crazy!" answered Sokka. The gang ducked before the watchtower light could tag them. "Last chance, we need to leave now!" Sokka warned his companions. "No!" Katara and Gohan said together. Seeing how stubborn they were being, Sokka shook his head and said, "I hate when you get like this."

The light passed them again before Sokka said, "We'd better hide." Sokka, Katara, and Gohan left to hide somewhere else while Aang whispered into Appa ear, telling him to head somewhere nearby. Momo jumped onto Aang's head as Appa flew away, but not before two guards saw him and reported back to the Warden.

"Tell me exactly what you saw," said the Warden.

"Well sir, it looked like a flying bison," said the first guard.

"What?" asked the Warden.

"It was a giant flying buffalo, sir, with an empty saddle," answered the second guard.

"Which was it, a buffalo or a bison?" asked the Warden.

The two guards looked at each other before the first one answered, "Uh, not sure what the difference is, but that's not really the point, is it sir?"

"I'll decide what the point is, fool!" said the Warden just before he threw the first guard off the rig. He then pointed at the second guard and ordered, "You! Wake up the Captain! Search the entire rig!"

"Sir..." said the guard.

"What?!" asked the Warden.

"That was the Captain you just threw overboard," replied the guard.

"Then wake up somebody I haven't thrown overboard and search the rig! There's something going on here and I don't like it!" said the Warden.

The gang was now hiding between crates of supplies as they tried to come up with a plan. "We don't have much time; what are we gonna do?" asked Sokka. "I wish I knew how to make a hurricane," suggested Aang which made the other look at him weirdly. "The Warden would run away and we could steal his keys!" "Wouldn't he just take his keys with him?" asked Sokka. "I'm just tossing ideas around," said Aang. "I tried talking the Earthbenders into fighting back but it didn't work," said Katara. "If there was just a way to help them help themselves."

"For that, they'd need some earth or some rock. Something they can bend," said Sokka.

"Yeah, if we can find any form of earth and bring it to them, it should give them the courage and power to fight!" agreed Gohan.

"But this entire place is made of metal," said Katara as felt the ground.

"No it's not; look at the smoke," said Aang as he pointed upward. "I bet they're burning coal; in other words, earth."

"Great! Now all we have to do is bring the coal to the Earthbenders," said Gohan.

When the sun began to rise, Gohan, Katara, and Sokka were busy trying to carry out their plan. "It's almost dawn. We're running out of time. You sure this is gonna work?" Katara asked her brother. "It should. These vents reminded me of our little trick back at the village," Sokka explained. "We're gonna do the same thing, but on a much bigger scale. There's a huge supply of coal at the base of this island, and the whole system is ventilated," as Sokka explained his plan, the Avatar was in the center of the rig closing the air vents. "Aang closed off all the vents except one, when he does his airbending the coal only has one place to go... right back here!"

"I hope this gets the Earthbender to fight again." said Gohan.

"There's the intruder!" shouted one of the fire guards. The three teens were suddenly surrounded by multiple fire soldiers with spears along with earth prisoners. The teens put their backs together as they faced the soldiers. "Stay back! I'm warning you!" Sokka yelled as he pulled out his boomerang. "Katara, Gohan stop! You can't win this fight!" Tyro warned the teens. Katara looked at Haru's face and saw that his face expressed fear for her life.

"Listen to him well children," said the Warden as he stepped forward. "You're all one mistake away from dying where you stand."

The soldiers slowly approached the teens before everyone felt a sudden vibration. Coal finally burst out of the only open air vent and poured onto the ground, which surprised the Warden and the earth prisoners. The Avatar then jumped out of the vent and landed on the coal pile covered in ash, he cough a bit to relieve himself of the ash. Katara climbed on top of the coal and shouted "HERE'S YOUR CHANCE EARTHBENDERS, TAKE IT! YOU FATE IS IN YOUR OWN HANDS!" as she lifted up a piece of the coal. Haru stepped forward a bit but his father stopped him from going any further while no other Earthbender made an attempt to move, a few of them even stepped back.

The gang was surprised that no one seemed to want to fight for their freedom even if they could bend. "What's wrong with you people?! Why are you acting like this?!" cried Gohan in disbelief. "You have your ability to bend again, why aren't you fighting back?!"

The Warden started laughing as Katara slowly lowered her hand. "Foolish girl," said the Warden. "You thought a few inspirational words and some coal would change these people? Look at these blank, hopeless faces," as the Warden spoke the Earthbenders looked away in shame. "Their spirits were broken a long time ago," "You're wrong, that's not true!" argued Gohan. "It is true boy and you can see it for yourself. Oh, but you still believe in them, how sweet." the Warden said mockingly as Katara lowered her head in defeat. "They're a waste of your energy children, you've failed." The Warden turned to walk away before he was suddenly nailed in the head by a flying coal, he growled and turned to see Haru glaring at him while coal hovered around his hand.

The Warden immediately launched a fire blast at the boy but it was blocked by a wall of coal controlled by Haru's father, his will to fight fully restored. "Show no mercy!" the Warden ordered as he and some fire soldiers threw fireballs at the Earthbenders. Haru, Tyro, and some more Earthbenders made a larger wall of coal to shield before Tyro ordered "For the Earth Kingdom, attack!" and slammed his palms onto the ground, creating a wave of coal that blew the Firebenders back. Pretty soon all the Earthbenders joined the battle, dodging fire attacks while using coal to defend themselves and attack Fire soldiers. The guards around the rig watched as the earth prisoners dominated their comrades.

Sokka and Gohan joined in as well, the water tribesman snapped the spears of the guards and tossed them to the lemur bat that was flying and collecting them, while Gohan used his energy attacks to knock away some Firebenders. Tyro and Haru bended a large pile off coal and merged them into a giant boulder, the Warden and some Firebenders were still fighting when the father and son launched the coal boulder at the closed gate, sending a few guards overboard while the gate had a large hole in it.

"Get to the ships, we'll hold them off!" Tyro ordered while he, his son and some other Earthbenders continued fighting.

"Do not let them escape!" the Warden ordered as he and his men attempted to stop the fleeing earth prisoners.

The gang was headed towards the gate before Aang suddenly stopped and started rotating his arms to create an air canon. "Guys, throw me some coal!" said Aang. His companions filled his canon with some coal and it was shot at the Warden and the remaining Firebenders, knocking them down. The coal suddenly came together under the Firebenders, creating a large platform that carried them through the air. The Earthbenders directed the platform just above the water, "No! Please, I can't swim!" begged the Warden. "Don't worry, I hear cowards float!" assured Tyro before he lowered his hands, dropping the Firebenders into the ocean.

Soon the Earthbenders along with Katara and Gohan were on the Fire navy ships sailing towards their home village, while Aang and Sokka rode on Appa. Haru and his father approached the two and said "I want to thank you for saving me, for saving us." said Haru. "No problem." said Gohan. "All it took was a little coal." said Katara modestly. "It wasn't the coal Katara, it was you." said Haru which made Katara blush. "Thank you for helping me find my courage, Katara of the Water Tribe. My family, and everyone here owes you much." said Tyro. "So I guess you're going home now." said Katara.

"Yes, to take back my village," replied Tyro before he shouted. "TO TAKE BACK ALL OUR VILLAGES! THE FIRE NATION WILL REGRET THE DAY THEY SET FOOT ON OUR LAND!"

"YEAH!" shouted the Earthbenders aboard the other ships. Gohan smiled as he joined his brother and Sokka on the sky bison, leaving Katara and Haru alone. "Come with us." said Haru to Katara. "I can't," said the Waterbender. "Your mission is to take back your home, ours is to get Aang to the North Pole." The two looked towards Gohan and Aang who tossing a piece of coal to each other while Momo chased after it. "That's him isn't? The Avatar?" asked Haru as he looked at Aang. "Katara thank you for bringing my father back to me, I never thought I'd see him again. You've done so much for me, I only wish there was a way..."

"I know," replied Katara as she gripped her necklace, only to find that it wasn't around her neck. "My mother's necklace, it's gone!"

Back at the rig, the necklace of the Southern Waterbender was pick by a Firebender, who happened to be the son of Fire Lord Ozai. Prince Zuko recognized Katara's necklace and stared into the sunset. Prince Trunks soon appeared beside him. "Some fight that took place here huh? This rig is completely empty." said Trunks before he looked towards his fellow prince and asked "What did you find?"

"Something that tells me we're on the right track," replied Zuko as he showed the necklace to his comrade.

 **A/N: Finished. Just so we're clear that scene where it looked like Gohan was earthbending was just him using telekinesis or his ki to levitate the rocks. Now onward, I've a few surprises planned for the next two chapters and I think you'll especially like chapter 8's surprise. Keep reading and send your reviews. TTFN Antihero out!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Alright! Time for the first surprises, hope you like them, now back to Five Elements.**

 **Disclaimer- I own nothing.**

 **Chapter 7**

The gang was flying high above the clouds on their faithful beasts Appa and Icarus. They boys were basically relaxing while Katara stared at the clouds. "The clouds look so soft, don't they?" she asked. "Like you could just jump down and you'd land on a big soft cottony heap." "Maybe you should give it a try it," suggested Sokka jokingly. "You're hilarious," said Katara sarcastically, her fantasy ruined. "I'll try it!" cried Aang and Gohan before they jump off their rides and fell through the sky. The boys laughed as the fell towards a cloud and then through it while the water tribe siblings watched. After they disappeared Katara and Sokka looked around for their friends, only to discover that they had already flown back onto their pets while soaking wet.

"Turns out clouds are made of water." said Aang before he used his airbending to dry himself and his brother off.

"Skydiving is still fun though." said Gohan.

"Hey, what is that?" asked Katara. The gang was soon staring at a giant black mark in a valley. "It's like a scar. They landed inside a forest that was completely burned down. "Listen," said Sokka. It's so quiet, there's no life anywhere." "Aang, are you ok?" asked Katara but the Airbender didn't answer. As Gohan looked around, his mind drew him back towards a different time

 _Flashback- A four-year-old Gohan was standing in a large forest that was completely on fire. After few minutes the fire was gone along with the forest. All the animals including Icarus mourned over the loss of their home._

 _The scene changed to where a giant tree stood high and was surrounded by multiple dead plants. All life was being sapped away by the second. Along with that, a giant rampaging ape was going around destroying everything in its path. As the beast raged on two warriors/energy benders that looked exactly alike were fighting, the first energy bender had black spiky hair in the shape of a palm tree, black eyes, and wore the same gi as Gohan._

 _The second warrior had the same hairstyle and eye color but his faced show pure evil while he wore a set of armor that was similar to prince Trunks'. The two continued to fight until the giant ape turned towards them and pounced on the first fighter. Flashback ends._

Gohan suddenly snapped out of his daydream when he noticed Katara waving a hand in front of his face. "Are you ok Gohan?" she asked with concern. "Uh yeah. I just spaced out a bit." replied the young fighter. "Fire Nation!" shouted Sokka when he saw the footprints. "Those evil savages make me sick! They have no respect for..." "Shh!" Katara told her brother. "What, I'm not allowed to be angry?" whispered Sokka. Katara then pointed to Aang who was kneeling in sadness. "Why would anyone do this?" asked Aang as he picked up some ash. "How could I let this happen?"

"Aang, you didn't let this happen. It has nothing to do with you." Katara assured her friend.

"Yes it does," said Aang. "It's the Avatar's duty to protect nature, but I don't know how to do my job."

"That's why we're going to the North Pole, to find you a teacher." Katara reminded Aang.

"Yeah, a _waterbending_ teacher," corrected Aang. "But there's no one who can teach me to be the Avatar."

"There has to be someone," assured Gohan. "Remember what Gyatso said?"

"He said that Avatar Roku would help me." replied Aang.

"The Avatar before you? He died over a hundred years ago, how are you suppose to talk to him?" asked Sokka. "I don't know." said Aang, Momo tried to comfort his friend by sitting on his lap, allowing Aang to pet him in sorrow.

Elsewhere, the Princes of the Fire Nation were searching through the woods for their teacher. "Uncle, it's time to leave!" called Prince Zuko. "Where are you?! Uncle Iroh!" They eventually stumbled upon a small pond full of hot water and steam, where the retired General was relaxing. "Over here!" called Iroh. "Uncle?" asked Zuko. "Sorry to interrupt Iroh, but we need to move on!" said Trunks. "That's right! We're closing in on the Avatar's trail, and we don't want to lose him!" said Zuko.

"You look tired Prince Zuko, why don't you and Prince Trunks join me in these hot springs and soak away your troubles?" Iroh offered his pupils.

"Our troubles cannot be soaked away! It's time to go!" Zuko urged his Uncle.

"Calm down Zuko. It's not like we couldn't use a break while we're on this hunt every once in a while,"" said Trunks.

"You should take you friend's and teacher's advice and relax. The temperature's just right, I heated it myself." said Iroh before he demonstrated by breathing steam into the water, heating it up a little more.

"Thanks Iroh, but we'll pass." said Trunks as he and Zuko waved steam from their faces.

"Enough! We need to leave now, get out of the water!" ordered Zuko.

"Very well," groaned Iroh as he stood up, the Princes quickly covered their eyes before they could see the Dragon of the West naked.

"On second thought, why don't you take another few minutes? But be back at the ship in half an hour or we're leaving without!" instructed Zuko before he left.

"Don't worry Iroh I'm sure he doesn't mean that," assured Trunks as he left. "We'll see you later!"

"Ahh!" sighed Iroh as he got back in the water.

Back at the burned forest, Aang was still brooding when Katara asked, "Hey Aang, are you ready to be cheered up?!"

"No." replied Aang, before he was pelted in the head with and acorn, courtesy of Katara. "Ow! Hey, how is that cheering me up?!"

Sokka laughed and said "Cheered me up!" before he was hit with and acorn by his sister. "Yeah, I probably deserved that."

"Yeah, you kinda did," said Gohan before an acorn hit him in the head. "Ow! Ok, if you're done hitting us with acorns, you can cheer Aang up for real!"

"These acorns are everywhere Aang," said Katara as Momo dug up more acorns and stuffed them in his mouth. "That means the forest will grow back! Every one of these will a tall oak tree some day and all the birds and animals will come back." she placed the acorn in Aang's hand and closed it. "Thanks Katara." said Aang as he smiled which Katara returned with her own smile. "That's a nice way to cheer people up, but I've got a better way." said Gohan before he threw an acorn that hit Katara in the head.

"Who are you trying to cheer up?" asked the Waterbender.

"Me!" replied Gohan as he threw another one at Aang.

"Oh, you are so going down!" said the Air Nomad.

The gang eventually started playfully throwing acorns at each other and laughing until Katara gasped as she noticed and elderly man slowly approaching them. "Hey, who are you?!" asked Sokka. The old man ignored Sokka's question as he continued to approach Aang. "When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was impossible, but those markings," said the old man as he pointed to Aang. "Are you the Avatar, child?" Aang looked towards Katara who nodded to him and Aang nodded to the old man. "My village desperately needs your help."

The gang was soon lead back to a small village that seemed to be in the middle of construction. Some of the buildings were damaged or smashed. They walked into a small home where the old man introduced Aang to his people. "This young person is the Avatar." "So the rumors of your return are true," said the village leader as he approached Aang and bowed to him. "It is the greatest honor of a lifetime to be in your presence."

"Nice to meet you too." said Aang, after a moment of awkward silence, Aang asked, "So, is there something I can help you with?"

"I'm not sure." replied the leader.

"Our village is in crisis, he's our only hope!" urged the old man before he spoke to Aang. "For the last few days at sunset, a spirit monster comes and attacks our village. He is Hebi, the black and white spirit."

"Why is it attacking you?" asked Sokka.

"We do not know, but each of the last three nights he has abducted one of our own," explained the village leader as he stood by the doorway and stared at the sun. "We are especially fearful because the winter solstice draws near."

"What happens then?" asked Katara.

"As the solstice approaches, the natural world and the spirit world grow closer and closer, until the line between them is blurred completely." said the old man.

"Hebi is already causing devastation and destruction, once the solstice is here there is no telling what will happen." said the leader.

"So, what do you want me to do exactly?" asked Aang.

"Who better to solve a crisis between our world and the spirit world, than the Avatar himself?" asked the old man to Aang. "You are the great bridge between man and spirit."

"Right, that's me." said Aang uncertainly.

"Hey great bridge guy, can I talk to over here for a second?" asked Katara.

The boys moved to a window where Katara was waiting to speak with Aang. "Aang, you seem a little unsure about all this." said Katara.

"Yeah, that might be because I don't know anything at all about the spirit world." said Aang which made his friends look at worriedly. "It's not like there's someone to teach me this stuff!"

"Relax bro, we're just very concerned." said Gohan.

"So, can you help these people?" asked Katara

"I have to try don't, I?" replied Aang. "Maybe whatever I have to do will just…come to me," the monk smiled as Momo jumped onto his shoulder.

"I think you can do it Aang." said Katara as she smiled.

"Yeah, we're all gonna get eaten by a spirit monster." said Sokka.

The Energy bender nudged him and said "What Sokka means is that we're with you to the end bro,"

"Even if the end is being eaten by a spirit monster." said Sokka.

Back at the hot springs, Iroh was snoring peacefully until his eyes snapped open once he heard some rustling in the bushes. "Who's there?!" he asked. A small mouse-like creature soon revealed itself, relieving old Firebender. "A meddle ball, I should have known." said Iroh as he placed it in his hand and played with it. "You startled me little one." he yawned as he placed the critter down. "It seems I dozed off and missed my nephew's deadline, but it was a very sweet nap." The retired General laid back and closed his eyes; the critter started jumping frantically as if it was trying to warn Iroh. The ground started to shake and the critter ran away, three earth spikes suddenly shot out of the springs at Iroh, spilling the water and imprisoning him.

Three Earthbenders suddenly appeared; one of them examined Iroh's clothes and said, "He's a Fire Nation Soldier!" He's no ordinary soldier," said the Earth leader "This is the Fire Lord's brother, the Dragon of the West! The once great General Iroh! But now, he's our prisoner!" The Earth Soldiers smirked at General Iroh, who glared at them in return.

Back at the village, the sun began to set as the Avatar stood outside with his staff. He slowly walked towards the village gate as he spoke to no one "Hello? Spirit? Can you hear me? This is the Avatar speaking," Aang got no response as he walked on and looked around. "I'm here to try to help stuff!"

Inside the building, everyone was watching as Aang approached the gate. "This isn't right," said Sokka. "We can't just sit here and cower while Aang waits for some monster to show up!" "We should be out there helping him!" agreed Gohan. "If anyone can save us, he can!" assured the old man. "He still shouldn't have to face this alone!" argued Sokka. The sun had finally gone down and the sky had turned dark, but there was no sign of any rampaging spirit. "The sun is set, where are you Hebi?!" Aang called out, but still received silence. "Well spirit, uh…I hereby ask you to please leave this village in peace!" ordered the Avatar as he twirled his staff and slammed it down. When nothing happened once again, Aang "Well, I guess that's settled then." and walked away from the gate.

As the young Monk walked away, a giant black and white, six-legged creature with fangs appeared behind him. It stalked him until he noticed something behind him; Aang turned around and was face to face with the Hebi. "You must be the Hebi spirit," said the Avatar as he bowed. "My name is…" his introduction was interrupted when the Hebi roared at him and stood on its back legs.

It walked over the Airbender towards the village. "My name is Aang! I'm the Avatar and I would like to help! Hey, what up!" yelled Aang, he was ignored as the spirit beast started destroying buildings. Hebi moved like a ghost as it destroyed building after building with Aang running after it. "The Avatar's methods are…unusual!" commented the village leader. "Cut him some slack, at least he's trying! And we should be with him!" said Gohan defensively. "Hebi doesn't seem interested in what he's saying," said Sokka. "Maybe we should go help him?" "No! Only the Avatar stands a chance against the Hebi!" said the old man. "Aang will figure out the right thing to do guys!" said Katara.

Hebi continued to smash building while ignoring Aang. "Please! Would you stop destroying things and listen?!" asked Aang as he jumped onto the roof of a building behind Hebi. "I'm just trying to do my job as Spirit Bridge! Excuse me, would you please turn around?!" Hebi didn't stop rampaging, which began to annoy the Avatar. "I COMMAND YOU TO TURN AROUND NOW!" shouted Aang. Hebi suddenly bashed the building Aang was on, sending him flying onto another roof and sliding to the ground.

"Aang!" cried Gohan.

"That's it he needs help!" said Sokka.

"Sokka, Gohan, wait!" cried Katara.

The two boys ran outside to help the Avatar, Katara was about to run after them but the village leader stopped her and said, "It's not safe!" "Hebi, over here!" called Sokka as he threw his boomerang at the spirit; it bounced off its rumpus having no effect. The boys looked a little surprised before Gohan said, "Let me try!"He then raised his hand over his head and channeled energy into his palms. " **MASENKO...HA!"** shouted the Ki user as he fired his signature attack at Hebi, the energy blast exploded on impact but still did nothing to slow down the beast. The boys looked at each other before they ran up to join Aang.

"Sokka, Gohan, go back!" cried Aang when he saw them.

"Not a chance bro! We're a team!" argued Gohan.

"That's right! We'll fight him together Aang!" said Sokka.

"I don't want to fight unless I…" before Aang could finish, Gohan cried "Lookout!" as he pushed the two aside. Hebi suddenly swatted the spiky haired teen a few feet away, it then appeared in front of him and attempted to grab him. Acting quick, Gohan jumped to avoid Hebi's grasped, this left him vulnerable and he was blown away by Hebi's roar into a smashed building. The young fighter crawled out before he fell unconscious.

"Gohan!" cried Aang and Sokka.

The Hebi suddenly grabbed Sokka and ran off; Aang quickly picked up his glider and flew after it. Hebi, Sokka, and Aang disappeared into the woods. "Sokka!" cried Katara. All the villagers came out at stared at the woods in sadness.

"Uncle! Uncle, where are you?!" cried Prince Zuko as he, Trunks, and three Fire soldiers came searching for Iroh at the dried out hot springs. "Sir, maybe he thought you left without him." suggested one of the soldiers. "Something's not right here." said Zuko. "That's for sure, look at those pile of rocks!" said Trunks. "There seems to have been a landslide." said a soldier. "Land doesn't slide uphill, those rocks didn't move naturally!" said Trunks as he and Zuko examined the spikes. "That means, my Uncle been captured by Earthbenders!" deduced Zuko.

Hebi ran through the woods with Aang flying close behind. Avoiding every tree and flying as fast as he could, the Avatar struggled to catch to the spirit holding his scared friend. "Aang, over here!" cried Sokka. The Airbender flew above the trees and followed the Hebi back to the burned down oak forest. "Help!" cried Sokka. "Hang on Sokka!" yelled Aang. When he got close enough, Aang stretched his hand out to Sokka. The two friends reached for each other, Aang managed to grab his friend before the Hebi suddenly vanished with Sokka, causing Aang to steer out of control and crash into the panda bear statue, losing consciousness.

A few minutes later, Aang woke up and cried "Sokka!" He tapped his head as he remembered what happened earlier, he then looked down in sadness and saying "I failed."

Elsewhere, seven Earth soldiers were riding on ostrich horses, holding lanterns, and a chained General Iroh. The Firebender sat on one of the ostrich horses, leaning against the soldier riding it while wearing nothing but a loin cloth.

"Where are you taking me?" asked Iroh.

"We're taking you to face justice." answered the leader.

"Right, but where specifically?" Iroh asked again.

"A place you're quite familiar with actually," explained the leader. "You once laid cease to it for 600 days, but it would not yield to you."

"Ah, the great city of Ba Sing Se." said Iroh as he realized where he was going.

"It was greater than you were, apparently," said the leader.

"I acknowledged my defeat at Ba Sing Se," said Iroh indignantly. "After 600 days away from home, my men were tired, and I was tired," he yawned and leaned against his carrier. "And I'm still tired." He then fell asleep and fell off the ostrich horse. The Earth soldiers stopped and picked him up, as they rode away, none of them noticed the sandal that was left on the ground, Iroh smirked as his plan to leave a trail was a success.

Back at the village, Katara waited patiently for Aang and Sokka to return. "I'm sure they'll be back." said the old man when he came to see the Waterbender. "I know." said Katara as she held her brother's boomerang. "You should get some rest." advised the old man as he put a blanket on the sad girl. "Everything's gonna be ok." said Katara. "Your brother is in good hands," assured the old man. "I would be shocked if the Avatar returned without him." None of them seemed to notice Aang walking towards them in shame. "Katara, Katara I lost him." said Aang but she didn't seem to hear or see him. Aang walked up to them but they still didn't notice him. "The sun is rising, perhaps they will return soon." said the old man. "What? No, I'm right here." said Aang; he tried to get their attention by waving his hand in their faces, only to find that his hand along with the rest of him was intangible. "I'm in the spirit world!" said Aang in realization.

Meanwhile, the Fire Princes were busy tracking down their teacher. They eventually stumbled upon the sandal Iroh left for them. Zuko picked it up and sniffed it, as did Trunks. They reared back from the smell and said at the same time. "Yup, that's Uncle Iroh." The Princes climbed back onto their Komodo Rhinos and continued their search.

"I'll figure this out Katara, I promise," said Aang to Katara who was resting by the village gate, unable to see or hear him. "Like they said, I'm the bridge between the two worlds right? All I have to do is...figure out what I have to do, but once I do that no problem!" Just then Appa came up to Katara. "Appa, hey buddy I'm right here," said Aang, he got the same response he got from Katara. "But, I guess you can see me either." Appa groaned which woke up the Water Tribe girl. "It's ok Appa, I'm sure they're on their way back," said Katara as she petted the bison. "I bet they even found you a bunch of moon peaches, for a treat." The two walked passed Aang, who entered the village gate feeling lost.

He wandered all the way to the infirmary where his brother was still unconscious from Hebi's attack. "At least Hebi didn't take you bro." said Aang. Gohan suddenly woke up; he slowly sat up and grasped his head as he recalled what happened the previous night. "Gohan, you're ok!" said Aang.

The Energy bender turned towards his brother and replied, "Of course I am, don't you know it takes more than a spirit beast to keep me down?"

"I don't know Hebi got you pretty hard." said Aang.

"Trust me squirt, I'm fine." assured Gohan.

"That's good to hear," said Aang before he realized something. "Wait a minute?!" The Avatar ran up to his brother and looked him right in the eye and started waving his hand in his face. He then made faces at Gohan who starred in confusion. "What are you doing Aang?"

"AAAH!" screamed Aang before he asked "You can see me?!"

"Uh yeah." said Gohan, a little confused.

"But I'm in the spirit world, you shouldn't be able to see me!" said Aang.

"You're what?!" asked Gohan but instead of waiting for an answer he tried to touch him, his hand went right through him. "Whoa, you're really in spirit world! But are you sure no one can see you?"

Aang frowned and said "Follow me."

The brothers went outside where they saw Katara was still with Appa, she didn't see either of them. Aang then walked up to the Waterbender and tried to kiss her forehead but he simply fell right through her. The Avatar walked back towards his brother who was trying not to laugh. "Ok, I guess you can't be seen." said Gohan.

"Except by you! Why's that?" asked Aang.

Gohan shrugged as he said "Beats me, maybe it has something to do with me being in the spirit world for 100 years."

"Ugh! Why isn't there someone to answer all my questions about this Avatar stuff?!" cried Aang. "What am I suppose to do?! Avatar Roku, how can I talk to you?!"

The boys suddenly noticed something coming their way. "What is that?" asked Gohan. "Sokka?" asked Aang hopefully. Looking at it closely, the brothers saw that it was a large blue dragon flying towards them. "That's definitely not Sokka!" said Aang. He opened his glider and flew away with Gohan right behind him, but after a few seconds, Aang fell to the ground. "Aang come on, let's go!" said Gohan. "I'm trying!" said Aang. The young monk tried to airbend his glider but nothing happened. "What?" said Aang in confusion. "What's wrong?!" asked Gohan. "I can't airbend in the spirit world!" replied Aang. The Dragon finally in front of the boys, and stared at them. "You don't know where Sokka is, do you?" Aang asked the dragon. Instead of answering, the dragon extended its whiskers towards the boys.

When the boys were touched by the whiskers, they saw a vision of the same dragon back when it was alive, with Avatar Roku riding on it. When the vision ended, the boys looked at the dragon with understanding.

"You're Avatar Roku's animal guide like Appa is to me, and Icarus is to Gohan," said Aang. "I need to save my friend and I don't know how; is there any way for me to talk to Roku?"

The dragon lowered its head toward the boys. "I think he wants us to get on," said Gohan. The Avatar climbed onto the dragon's head but his brother didn't move. "Gohan, come on!" said Aang. Gohan shook his head and said, "Just because I can see you, Aang, doesn't mean I can ride on that dragon. I'm not in the spirit world." The dragon then extended its whisker to the Energy bender; when it touched him, Gohan's spirit was pulled from his body. Gohan stared at his body in shock as it was laid against the village gate as if he was asleep, he then looked at his hands and saw through them. "I'm in the spirit world again!" exclaimed. "Great, now let's go!" said Aang. Gohan nodded as jumped onto the dragon's head and sat behind Aang.

"We'll be back Katara." said Aang before he looked at the dragon and said. "Take us to Roku!" The dragon then flew off into the sky with the two boys, while the Waterbender petted the bison, unaware of her friend's departure.

Somewhere in the mountains, the Earth soldiers were still carrying General Iroh when he suddenly looked up and saw Aang and Gohan riding on Roku's dragon, he gasped as the dragon flew over his head. "What's the problem?" asked the Earth Captain.

"Nothing," replied Iroh before he said. "Actually there is a bit of a problem, my old joints are feeling sore and achy, and these shackles are too loose."

"Too loose?" asked the Captain.

"That's right, the cuffs are loose and they jangle around and bump my wrists. It would help me if you would tighten them so they wouldn't shake around so much." said Iroh as he smiled.

"Very well. Corporal, tighten the prisoner's handcuffs." ordered the Captain.

The soldiers stopped so that the one carrying Iroh could make the adjustments, but before he could, Iroh heated the handcuffs the same way he did the hot springs and pressed the soldier's hand onto it. "Ahh!" the soldier cried in pain as his hand was smoking. Iroh then jumped fthe ostrich horse and shot fire out of his feet. The flames landed by the other ostrich horses and startled them, as they soldiers tried to calm down their animals, Iroh rolled off the Cliffside but not before the Captain saw him.

Roku's dragon flew the boys to a crescent shape island with a volcano and a temple on it, they flew inside the temple and headed towards the ceiling. "Hey, what are you doing?!" asked Aang. "We're gonna crash!" cried Gohan. The boys closed their eyes as the dragon just phased through the ceiling, they landed inside a room with a gold statue of Avatar Roku. "Guess spirits don't need doors." said Gohan. The boys climbed off the dragon and approached the statue.

"I don't understand, this is just a statue of Roku." said Aang.

Kinda like the one at the southern air temple." said Gohan.

The dragon then extended his whiskers to the boys, this time they saw a vision of a comet. "Is that what Roku wants to talk to me about, a comet?" asked Aang. "When can I talk to him?" The dragon lowered its head, revealing a beam of light that was pointed right beside Roku's head. The dragon touched the boys with its whiskers again and showed them a vision of the days passing by, the large design on the floor, and the beam of light moving closer to Roku's statue each day until it hit his face. "It's a calendar," said Aang as he looked at the floor design. "And the light will reach Roku on the solstice. So that's when I'll be able to speak to Roku?" The dragon growled to say yes. "But I can't wait that long, I need to save Sokka now!"

"Then we'd better get going, it's almost sundown." said Gohan.

The boys climbed back on the dragon and flew away from the temple.

Iroh continued to slide roughly down the cliff until the Captain Earthbend a pile of rocks to stop his descent. Three of the earth soldiers and the Captain slid down the Cliffside to where Iroh was buried in rubble. "He is too dangerous Captain! We can't just carry him to the capital, we have to do something now!" suggested the soldier. "I agree, he must be dealt with immediately and severely." said the Captain. Iroh spat out a pebble as he smirked deviously.

Meanwhile, Katara was riding Appa in the sky while searching for Aang and Sokka. When she didn't find anything, she said the Appa "It's no use Appa, I don't see them anywhere. Our best hope is to go back to the village and wait." before steering the sky bison back towards the village.

Down below, Zuko and Trunks discover ostrich horse tracks. The Princes were about to follow the tracks when they noticed the sky bison in flying above them. "The Avatar." said Zuko as he turned his Rhino to follow the bison. He looked at the track before looking back at Appa, trying to decide on what to do. Trunks saw his friend's dilemma and said "We could split up. You go after the Avatar while I track down Iroh." Zuko didn't reply as he looked down.

Roku's dragon took the boys all the way back to the burned down oak forest where Aang's body sat in a meditation state on top of the same panda bear statue he crashed into. "I guess this is where you get off!" said Gohan to Aang. The dragon phased through the statue and flew into the sky towards the village with Gohan while Aang's spirit was placed back in his body. The Avatar jumped off the statue and stared at it before opening his glider and flying back to the village. Pretty soon Gohan was within his own body and inside the village building waiting for his brother's return. The villagers all waited with the water tribe girl who was looking down in sadness until she saw Aang flying towards them. As he landed, Katara quickly ran up to hug him while Momo jumped onto his shoulder. "You're back!" cried Katara before she asked "Where's Sokka?"

"I'm not sure." replied Aang while looking down.

The sky grew dark and the sun was no longer visible. Gohan approached Aang and said "The sun is set again, I hope you can do it this time bro."

"Me too." said Aang.

Deep in a canyon, the Earthbender were preparing to "deal" with General Iroh. The Dragon of the west had his hands laid against a rock. "These dangerous hands must be crushed!" said the Captain as he hoisted a large rock into the air, he moved it over Iroh's and brought it down. The boulder was suddenly destroyed by a ki blast before it could crush Iroh's arms. Trunks and Zuko soon appeared beside their mentor and Zuko used his ankle to break his Uncle's restrains.

"Excellent form my princes." complemented Iroh.

"You taught us well," said Zuko.

The Earthbenders surrounded the royal family members of the Fire Nation, both sides ready to fight. "Surrender your selves" instructed the Captain. "Its 7 against 3, you're clearly outnumbered!"

"Oh, that's true but you are clearly outmatched!" said Iroh.

All the Earthbenders attacked by throwing rocks at them, acting quickly, Iroh used his chains to destroy the flying boulder. Zuko fired to fire blasts at two Earthbenders which knocked them out, Trunks dodged a flying rock and kicked him in the face, making the soldier fall unconscious. The lavender haired then back flipped behind an Earth soldier and nailed him with an energy blast to his back which took him out. Another boulder was launched at the princes by two more Earthbenders, but Iroh managed to grab it and swung it back at the soldiers, knocking them into a wall. The Captain threw many earth based attacks but the princes managed to dodge them swiftly, the princes countered with their own attacks that the Captain dodged. They fired one last attack that was blocked before the Captain hoisted a lot of rocks from the ground. Trunks got in front of Zuko and prepared to blast the Captain, but the Captain's legs were tied with chains and he was pulled off his feet, causing his attack to collapsed on himself.

The Earthbenders groaned in pain as the members of the Fire Nation stood together, Zuko placed his hand on Iroh's shoulder and asked "Now would you please put on some clothes?!" just as Trunks brought the clothes over to Iroh.

At the village, Aang waited outside the gate for Hebi to return again while the villagers watched from indoors. The wind blew greatly as Aang stood at the gate, but he eventually turned away wearing a sad look. As he walked away from the gate, Hebi suddenly appeared and started smashing a building, Aang quickly created an air bubble to protect himself from the falling debris.

"Aang, What are you doing?! Run!" Katara yelled to her friend.

Hebi roared and went to smashing more buildings while ignoring Aang again. It ran towards the village sanctuary while Aang chased after it. The Avatar jumped over the beast and touched its forehead, allowing him to see its true form; which was a panda bear spirit. "You're the spirit of this forest," said Aang as he landed in front of Hebi. "Now I understand. You're upset and angry because your home was burned down." as Aang spoke the Hebi seemed to listen and calm down. "When I saw the forest was burnt, I was sad and upset, but my friend gave me hope that the forest would grow back." He showed the acorn that Katara gave him to the Hebi and placed it on the ground.

Hebi picked it up with its paw, and turned into a giant panda bear. Hebi then left the village now filled with peace; as it left the gate, bamboo immediately grew from the ground and all the missing villagers stepped out of the forest along with Sokka. Those with loved ones ran to hug them from among the returned people.

"Sokka!" cried Katara as she ran to embrace her brother.

"Nice job bro!" said Gohan.

"Thanks bro!" said Aang.

"What happened?"asked the water tribesman.

"You were trapped in the spirit world for twenty for hours," explained Katara. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I seriously need to use the bathroom!" replied Sokka.

Later the gang stood with the village leader and the elders. "Thank you Avatar," said the leader. "If only there was a way to repay you for what you've done."

"You could give us some supplies and some money," Sokka.

"Sokka!" said Katara as she nudged her brother.

"What? We need stuff." said Sokka.

"It would be an honor to help you prepare for your journey." said the village leader before he left to get things for the gang.

"I'm so proud of you Aang," said Katara. "You figured out what to do all on your own."

"Actually, I did have a little help," confessed Aang "And there's something else." His thoughts were brought to the comet that Roku's dragon showed him and Gohan. "What is it? asked Sokka. "I need to talk to Roku, and I think I found a way to contact his spirit." explained Aang. "That's great!" said Katara. "Creepy, but great!" said Sokka. "There's a temple on a crescent shaped Island, and if I go there on the solstice, I'll be able to speak with him." said Aang."

"But the solstice is tomorrow." said Katara.

"Plus there's one more problem," said Gohan.

"The island is in the Fire Nation." said Aang which caused Katara and Sokka to have looks of fear and shock on their faces.

 **A/N: Ok time to find out what Aang and Gohan's mission will be! The next chapter has a special surprise that I doubt any of you would've guessed, but you can try if you want. Chapter 8 will mostly be out by the beginning of February unless I'm lucky and finish faster than expected. Until then TTFN Antihero out!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: The time… has come! My surprise is ready for you all, so be prepared to have your mind blown. Even if you're not totally shocked, you'll still be a little surprised and that's good enough for me. Now let's get it on!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own Dragon Ball Z or Avatar**

 **Chapter 8-**

After explaining that he was going to the fire temple to speak with his past life, Aang had decided that it would be best if he went alone. The Avatar struggled to get his bison to leave, but Appa stubbornly stayed in place. "Let's go, Appa! Come on, boy!" said Aang as he pulled on the bison's reins, but Appa roared in disagreement as he sat back down. "Look I'm sorry, but Katara, Sokka, and Gohan aren't coming to the Fire Nation with us," explained Aang, "If they got hurt, I'd never forgive myself. So get your big butt off the ground and let's go!"Aang tried once more to get Appa to move but he still resisted.

"I think his big butt is trying to tell you something," said Sokka.

Aang turned to see the villagers standing with his friends. "Going to the Fire Nation alone is a suicide mission, Aang," said Gohan. "By the time you get there, there'll already be an army of Fire Soldiers ready to attack you."

"Please don't go, Aang. The world can't afford to lose you to the Fire Nation. Neither can I," pleaded Katara.

Aang thought for a moment before he remembered his vision of the comet. "But I have to talk to Avatar Roku about what my vision means," urged Aang. "I need to get to the Fire Temple before the sun sets on the solstice! That's today!"The Avatar jumped onto his sky bison. He looked back to his friends before he motioned Appa to go. His friends suddenly ran in front of Appa, blocking his path.

"We're not gonna let you go into the Fire Nation, Aang," said Katara.

"At least, not without your friends," said Sokka. "We got your back."

Momo jumped onto Aang's shoulder, making him smile while Appa licked Sokka, making him angry. "Ew!" cried Sokka in disgust. "We'd better get going," said Gohan as he climbed onto Icarus. "It's a long journey to the Crescent Island," said the Village leader as he gave Aang. "You'll have to fly fast to have any chance at making it before sundown. Good luck."

"Thank you for your..." Aang had said before he was interrupted.

"Go!" ordered the village leader.

The gang took off into the night on their flying beasts. Early the next morning, the village leader came outside and was met with a blade at his throat. He looked to his right and saw Prince Trunks holding the sword and Prince Zuko waiting on his rhino with his still naked uncle. "Where's the Avatar?" asked Trunks.

The sun started to rise as the gang flew across the ocean. "Come on boy, we've got a long way to go! Faster!" said Aang to Appa; the bison growled as he started to flew faster. "Go faster, Icarus!" said Gohan, and his dragon zoomed up to Appa's head. Not too far behind, a Fire Navy ship sailed after them. Zuko was looking at the gang through a telescope and Trunks stood beside him while Iroh spoke. "Sailing into Fire Nation waters. Of all the foolish things you've done in your sixteen years, this is the most foolish!"

"I have to agree with Iroh on that one, Zuko," said Trunks. "This is a bad idea."

"I have no choice, guys," said Zuko as he looked through the telescope.

"Have you completely forgotten that the Fire Lord banished you?!" asked Iroh. "What if you're caught?!"

"I'm chasing the Avatar! My father will understand why we're coming home!" said Zuko.

"You give him too much credit. My brother is not the understanding type," said Iroh.

"Boy, that's for sure!" said Trunks, irritated.

"Trunks, I thought you'd be on my side on this one," said Zuko.

"Normally I would be, but now I'm not because I have no desire to get arrested and have Ozai give us an even greater punishment for coming back home!" said Trunks.

"I don't think I'll ever understand what you hate about my father," said Zuko.

"I don't expect you to," said Trunks.

Looking into the telescope, Prince Zuko managed to spot the gang in the sky. "There they are!" said Zuko before he ordered, "Helmsman, full steam ahead!" Zuko's ship started to move faster through the water. "Aang! We've got trouble!" said Katara when she saw the Fire navy ship. "Yeah! And it's gaining fast!" warned Sokka. Zuko's ship brought out its catapult with a smoking ball loaded into it. "Really Prince Zuko, couldn't you shoot them down with something more fragrant?" asked Iroh as he fanned himself. Zuko then lit the ball on fire while it was aimed at the Sky Bison. "On my mark," ordered Zuko. "Fire!" The fire soldier cut the rope for the catapult and launched the flaming projectile at the gang.

"Fireball!" cried Katara.

"I'm on it!" said Aang. He steered away from the fireball and it sailed passed them. They covered their noses and made faces as the smell of the fireball filled the air around them. "Man that stinks!" cried Gohan. "We have to get out of Zuko's range before he shoots another hot stinker at us!" said Katara. "Can't you make Appa go any faster?!" Sokka asked Aang. "Yeah. There's just one little problem," replied the Airbender as he looked ahead. "A blockade!" said Zuko with wide eyes.

Up ahead, there were lines of Fire Nation ships that stretched across the water. Each ship was fully equipped with three catapults and multiple fire soldiers. "Technically you are still in Earth Kingdom waters; turn back now and they cannot arrest you," Iroh advised his students.

"If we fly north, we can go around the Fire Nation ships and avoid the blockade. It's the only way," suggested Aang.

"There's no time!" said Katara.

"We'll have to go through it!" said Gohan.

"This is exactly why I didn't want you to come; it's too dangerous!" said Aang.

"And that's exactly why we're here," said Katara.

"Like I said, we're with you to the end, Aang!" said Gohan.

"Let's run this blockade!" said Sokka.

"Appa! Yip, yip!" said Aang. The bison swung its tail as it started to fly faster while Icarus speed up and flapped harder. On Zuko's ship, the fire Princes watched as their target flew towards the blockade. "He's not turning around!" said Zuko. "Please Prince Zuko. If the Fire Nation captures you and Trunks, there's nothing I can do. Do not follow the Avatar." begged Iroh. Zuko closed his eyes in regret and said "I'm sorry uncle." He then yelled "Run the Blockade!" to his men.

"The Avatar and the banished Princes," said Commander Zhao as he looked through the telescope. "This must be my lucky day." "Commander Zhao, what are your orders?" asked the fire captain who stood behind Zhao alongside lieutenant Brute. "Shoot the bison down Captain." said the Commander. "But there's a fire navy ship out there Commander. One of our own, what if it's hit?" asked the Captain. "So be it," replied the Commander which shocked the Captain. "It belongs to a traitor." "It would be quite a shame if Zuko's ship was show caught in the mid fire and damaged," said Brody. "If we hit them by accident, the whole crew could get stranded or drown in the ocean." "Yes that would be a shame." said Zhao."Ignite!" Each ship on Zhao's armada set three balls on fire. "Launch!" ordered the Commander.

A barrage of fireballs we're thrown into the air simultaneously, acting quickly Aang and Gohan steered their pets away from the flaming attacks. They swerved left and right as the out of the past the balls of fire, two somehow crashed into each other and exploded. Appa flew through the smoke and came out with some hot ash stuck to his fur. He growled in pain as his passengers started dusting the ash off him.

"Appa, are you ok?" Aang asked his bison who moaned in response.

"Guys, incoming!" said Gohan. He fired two ki blasts and destroyed the fireballs that were about hit his friends.

"Thanks." said Aang.

"No prob." replied Gohan.

Aang then directed Appa to fly above the clouds where they would be out of sight and Gohan followed him on Icarus. The fireballs that missed the gang came raining down around Zuko's ship. They splashed in the water creating waves that washed onto the ship. Prince Trunks fire multiple ki blasts, destroying any fireball that was headed towards the ship. "Great, now I have to worry about being caught by Brody and then Ozai," complained Trunks. One of the fireballs managed to hit the ship before Trunks could destroy it. "Prince Zuko! The engines are damaged! We need to stop and make repairs!" the Helmsman alerted Zuko. "Do not stop this ship!" ordered the son of Ozai.

"Launch!" Zhao ordered again. The ships threw three more fireballs each that flew above the clouds. The gang steered to avoid them as they screamed in panic. Each fire attack shot out of the clouds and came close to hitting Appa or Icarus. Once again, two fireballs smacked into each other and exploded in front of the bison. Appa stumbled bit but managed to continue flying. However, this caused Sokka to fly off the bison's saddle and fall through the clouds.

"SOKKA!" cried Aang as he steered Appa to dive after his friend.

"I got him!" said Gohan.

With great speed Icarus flew past Appa and dived for Sokka, the water tribesman screamed as his eyes grew watery. Gohan reached for Sokka, who reached him, he grabbed the non-bender who was grasping his heart as he was pulled onto Icarus. Gohan then steered his dragon towards Appa and placed his friend on the saddle. Appa splashed against the water, causing a fish to fly into Sokka's face before Momo caught it. More fireballs were launched at them, but the two flying beasts continued to dodge them as they fly towards the blockade. "Ready," said Zhao as his ship prepared to fire another attack at Appa. "Fire!"

Aang reacted by jumping off Appa towards the fireball, and with a mighty kick, he hit the fireball with an air blast that caused it to explode. Aang landed on Appa just before he flew past the Fire Nation blockade.

"We made it!" cried Aang.

"We got into the Fire Nation," said Sokka as he and his sister had terrified looks on their faces. "Great."

"Where do you think the Avatar is headed sir?" asked the Captain.

"I'm not sure," replied Zhao. "But I bet a certain banished prince knows."

"Well then, why don't we ask him?" asked Brody as he cracked his knuckles.

Zuko's ship closed in on the blockade, two of Zhao's ships were moving in to cut off the Fire Princes' path. "We're on a collision course!"Iroh warned his nephew. "We can make it!" said Zuko with confidence. As the ships got closer to each other, numerous Fire Soldiers were assembled on deck. "The boarding party is ready to apprehend Prince Zuko and Prince Trunks sir!" said the Captain. "Wait! Cut the engines and let them pass," ordered Zhao. "Sir?" asked the Captain in confusion. As the ships were about to collide, Zhao's ships suddenly stopped, allowing Zuko's ship to pass without delay.

Zhao and Brody glared at Zuko and Trunks as their ship crossed the blockade. The Fire Princes glared back at them when their ship passed the blockade Zuko and Trunks stared at Zhao's ship while Iroh stroked his beard in wonder.

" _What game are they playing?"_ thought Prince Trunks.

Meanwhile, the hours passed by as the gang flew to their destination. As they continued to fly Appa and Icarus started to show signs of exhaustion. The longer they flew, the more tired the flying beasts became, Icarus was finding t very difficult to stay airborne. The gang was starting to get tired as well when Aang suddenly said "There it is!" alerting his friends as they approached the Crescent shaped island with a volcano on it. "The Island that Roku's dragon took us."

The gang landed on the island where Appa and Icarus would rest while the teens entered the temple. "You did it buddy, nice flying," said Aang as he hugged his bison. Appa moaned as he rolled onto his back.

"Aw, you must be tired," Katara said to Appa as he rubbed his belly.

"Nope! I'm good," said Sokka as he stretched. "Refreshed and ready to fight some Firebenders."

"I was talking to Appa." said Katara.

"Well…I was talking to Momo," replied Sokka as he gestured to the lemur hanging from tree branch before looking at Sokka in confusion.

Gohan laughed before he turned to his dragon and petted him while saying "Thanks for the lift Icarus. You and Appa get a good rest; we'll be back when we're done inside."

The four teens walked up the stairs towards the temple before hiding at the entrance. "I don't see any guards," said Sokka.

"The Fire Nation must've abandoned the temple when Avatar Roku died." suggested Katara.

"It's almost sun down, we'd better hurry!" said Aang.

The gang ran into the temple as the sun began to set. When they were inside, they quietly snuck around trying to find the room where Roku's statue was in. "Wait," said Sokka suddenly. "I think I heard something." "Uh, we're not alone here," said Gohan when he turned around. The rest of the gang turned and saw five old men in fire nation clothes The oldest stood in the front with two standing on his left and right side.

"We are the Fire Sages," said the oldest sage. "Guardians of the Temple of the Avatar.

"Great! I am the Avatar!" said Aang.

"We know!" replied the head sage before he took a deep breath and launched a fireball at the gang. Two other sages followed the Head Sage's lead and attacked the gang as well, but Aang quickly swung his arms around and deflected the fire blasts with airbending. "I'll hold them off, run!" yelled Aang. His friends ran off, leaving the Avatar on his own. Aang swung his leg, creating an air current that knocked all five Sages off their feet. When the sages stood back up, Aang was already gone. "If the Avatar contacts Roku, there's no telling how powerful the boy will become." said The Grand Sage. "Split up and find him!"

The five Sages separated and ran through five different halls. Gohan, Katara, and Sokka ran through a hallway when Aang suddenly ran in front of them and rushed into another hallway.

"Follow me!" said Aang.

"Do you know where you're going?!" asked Sokka.

"Nope!" replied Aang as he ran around a corner. A second later he came back and shouted "Wrong way!" as he ran past his friends. His friends stared in confusion until they saw one of the fire sages and ran away. "Come back!" cried the sage as he chased the gang. The teens ran into a dead end right before the Fire Sage caught up with them. Gohan and Aang turned around and took fighting stances as the sage approached them. "I don't want to fight you. I am a friend." said the Sage. "Firebenders aren't our friends!" said Sokka. The Fire Sage then walked up to the Avatar and bowed to him, which surprised the gang.

"I know why you're here Avatar." said the Sage.

"You do?" asked Aang.

"Yes. You wish to speak to Avatar Roku, I can take you to him." explained the Sage.

"How?" asked Aang.

The Fire Sage stood up and moved a lamp to the side revealing a small hole. He then placed his hand over the hole and shot fire into it. A secret door suddenly opened, leading to a tunnel within the volcano. "This way." said the sage. The gang hesitated to enter the tunnel when they heard "Find him!" coming from the voice of the Head Sage throughout the halls. Footsteps were heard and the Sage grew worried. "Time is running out! Quickly!" warned the Sage. Aang and Katara nodded to each other before walking down the tunnel followed by Gohan and Sokka. When the gang entered the tunnel, the Fire Sage quickly got in and closed the door.

Back outside, Zuko's ship was still trailing smoke from the damaged engine as it sailed towards the Avatar's location. Zuko gripped the rail on his ship as he spoke to his uncle. "What's he up to Uncle?" asked Zuko. "Why didn't Commander Zhao arrest us?!"

"Because he wants to follow you," replied the old General. "He knows you'll lead him to the prize you're both after, the Avatar!"

"And I though Zhao wasn't worried that we'd get to the Avatar first, and now he's using us to find him." said Trunks.

"If Zhao wants to follow our trail of smoke, then that's exactly what I'll let him do." said Zuko.

On the island, the sun was setting as the gang and the Fire Sage named Shyu walked down the tunnel. "Avatar Roku once called this temple his home," explained Shyu. "He formed these secret passages out of the magma."

"Did you know Avatar Roku?" asked Avatar Aang.

"No, but my grandfather knew him," replied Shyu. "Many generations of Fire Sages guarded this temple long before me; we all have a strong spiritual connection to this place."

"Is that how you knew I was coming?" asked Aang.

"A few weeks ago an amazing thing occurred," said Shyu. "The statue of Avatar Roku, its eyes began to glow."

"That's when we were at the air temple," said Katara. "Avatar Roku's eyes were glowing there too."

"At that moment, we knew you had returned to the world," said Shyu. The gang walked through another tunnel that was next to a river of magma.

"If this is the Avatar's temple, then shouldn't the Sages be trying to help Aang instead of attacking him?" asked Gohan.

"Things have changed," Shyu replied sadly. "In the past, the Sages were loyal only to the Avatar. When Roku died, the Sages eagerly waited for the next Avatar to return; but he never came."

"They were waiting for me." said Aang feeling guilty.

Sokka placed his hand on Aang's shoulder and said "Hey don't feel bad, you're only a hundred years late." which made Aang glare at him.

"They lost hope the Avatar would ever return." Shyu continued to explain. "When Fire Lord Sozin began the war, my grandfather and the other Sages were forced to follow him. I never wanted to serve the Fire Lord. When I learned you were coming, I knew I would have to betray the other Sages."

"Thank you for helping me." said Aang to which Shyu smiled.

The gang and Shyu began walking up some stairs towards the temple. "We'll follow these stairs to the sanctuary," Shyu instructed Aang. "Once you're inside, wait for the fight to hit Avatar Roku's statue. Only then will you be able to speak with him." Shyu then opened a ground door and walked towards the sanctuary, he gasped "No!" when saw two doors with five dragons on it closed shut.

"Shyu, what's wrong?" asked Aang as the gang joined the Sage.

"The sanctuary doors, they're closed!" said Shyu.

Aang and Gohan grabbed the handles on the doors and tried to open them manually. "Can't you just open them with Firebending, like you opened that other door?" asked Katara. "No." replied the Fire Sage. "Only a fully realized Avatar is powerful enough to open these doors alone or an Energy bender from the ancient times can force it open. Otherwise, the Sages must open the doors together with five simultaneous fire blasts." "Five fire blasts huh?" said Sokka while he was thinking. He then looked up at a lamp and said "I think I can help you out." as an idea came to him.

Meanwhile, on Zuko's ship, The Fire Princes were leaving the ship and entering the sea on a small boat. "Uncle, keep heading north," instructed Prince Zuko. "Zhao will follow the smoke trail while I use it as a cover." Iroh shook his head in doubt as his pupils' boat disappeared in the smoke. Commander Zhao stared at Zuko's ship through a telescope as he followed it, but his faced showed suspicion.

"Do they think we're as foolish as them?" asked Lieutenant Brute.

"Do you know where they're actually headed?" asked Zhao.

"Yes, I do." replied Brody as he pointed towards the smoke.

At the Sanctuary, Sokka was busy at work putting his idea into action. "This is a little trick I picked up from my father." explained the water Tribesman as he poured lamp oil into five bags. "I seal the lamp oil inside animal skin casing, Shyu lights the oil soaked twine and ta-da! Fake Firebending!"

"You've really outdone yourself this time Sokka." said Katara.

"This might actually work." said Shyu.

Sokka placed the five bombs into the five dragon mouths while Shyu stood behind him. "The Sages will hear the explosion, so as soon as the go off, you rush in!" Shyu instructed Aang. Sokka placed the last bomb in the last dragon mouth and took cover with his sister while Aang and Gohan took cover together. "It's almost sunset, are you ready?" Katara asked Aang. "Definitely!" replied Aang. Shyu shot out a stream of fire that lit the string for all the bombs, the spark trailed up the string as Shyu hid with the boys. Sokka clung to his sister's dress and closed his eyes. When the spark finally ignited the oil, the bombs exploded simultaneously. Aang rushed to the doors and tried to open it but to no avail.

"They're still locked!" cried Aang.

Shyu sighed sadly as he said "It didn't work." The gang held faces of disappointment as Aang fell on his knees.

The sun continued to set while the gang was still outside the Sanctuary doors. In a desperate attempt to get inside, Aang repeatedly beat the doors with multiple air blasts. "WHY WON'T IT OPEN?!" shouted Aang furiously, before he could hit the doors with another attack, Katara grabbed his wrist and said "Aang, stop! There's nothing else we can do!" "Yes there is!" said Gohan as he placed his hands above his head. He focused most of his ki into his palms and shouted " **MASENKO…HA**!" before firing giant yellow beam at the doors. The blast collided with the doors, creating a dent in them, but they remained shut. Gohan fell to his knees and started breathing hard. "Sorry Aang," said Gohan.

The Airbender placed his hand on the Energy bender's shoulder and said "No, I'm sorry I put you guys through all this for nothing."

"I guess we're both just not strong enough." said Gohan as he stood up.

Sokka walked over to the doors and inspected them. The doors were covered with ash as a result of the five bombs. "I don't get it," said Sokka as he rubbed his finger on the doors while Momo climbed up to the dragon head. "That blast was as strong as any Firebending I've ever seen."

"Sokka, you're a genius!" said Katara.

"Wait. How is Sokka a genius?" asked Aang. "His plan didn't even work."

"Come on Aang, let her dream." said Sokka.

"You're right. Sokka's plan didn't work, but it looks like it did," said Katara as she started thinking.

"Did the definition of genius change in the last hundred years?" asked a confused Aang.

A few minutes later the rest of the Fire Sages made it to the Sanctuary where they met Shyu at the doors without the gang. "Come quickly!" said Shyu to his fellow Sages. "The Avatar has entered the Sanctuary!" "How did he get in?!" asked the Head Sage. "I don't know, but look at the scorch marks!" said Shyu as he pointed to the doors. "And down there!" He then pointed towards the ground where a shadow could be seen from inside the Sanctuary. "He's inside! Open the doors immediately!" ordered the Grand Sage. "Before he contacts Avatar Roku!"

As the Sage spoke, Aang moved out from his hiding placed and prepared to rush into Sanctuary. The fives Sages took deep breaths and shot fire into the five heads. The heads started to turn as the doors unlocked and opened slowly. The Sages prepared to attack the Avatar when the doors were fully open but were surprised to see Momo inside the Sanctuary covered with ash. "It's the Avatar's lemur! He must've crawled through the pipes! We've been tricked!" said the Head Sage before Momo jumped onto his face.

Gohan suddenly jumped out and put the Head Sage in a strangle hold. The Water Tribe Siblings jumped out and restrained the second and third Sages. The fourth was about to aid the Head Sage but he was restrained by Shyu. "Now Aang!" shouted the Sage. When the Airbender didn't appear, Katara yelled "Aang! Now's your chance!" Aang soon stepped out from behind his hiding spot, struggling to free himself from the grip of Prince Trunks. "The Avatar's coming with us!" said Zuko as he revealed himself. The Sages reacted by restraining their restrainers while Momo flew away with the Head Sage's hat.

"Close the doors, now!" ordered Trunks as he started to leave with Aang.

Gohan suddenly broke free of the Head Sage's hold and jumped at the lavender-haired Prince. He fired a weak ki blast at the Fire Prince's face, forcing him to release Aang in order to defend himself. Trunks easily deflected the blast, but this left him open to Gohan's second attack which involved kicking the young Prince down the Sanctuary stairs. Gohan was about to attack Zuko but stopped himself when he saw the Sages closing the doors. Acting quickly, the young fighter jumped in between the doors and spread out his arms, creating a blue energy shield that forced the doors to stay open. The Sages pushed against the doors to close them but Gohan held onto the shield.

"Aang! Hurry up!" cried Gohan. "I can't keep this up for long when my energy's low!"

Zuko quickly grabbed Aang, preventing him from running towards the doors. The Head Sage attempted to force Gohan to drop the shield by Firebending at him. The fire attacks were deflected by the shield but Gohan was struggling to maintain it, his shield changed color from blue to red as the spiky haired teen fell to one knee. Zuko tried to take Aang down the Sanctuary stairs but after the Avatar looked over at his friends that were being chained up and his brother struggling to keep the doors open, quickly broke free of Zuko's grip and air kicked him down the Sanctuary stairs.

The Avatar ran towards his chained friends, Katara yelled "Go!" as she gestured to the Sanctuary doors. The Head Sage stopped attacking Gohan and turned to face Aang when he noticed him running towards the doors. The Head Sage shot a fireball at the Airbender but he jumped up to dodge it. He used his hand to jump off the Grand Sage's head and then jumped off the second Sage that tried to stop him. When Gohan saw Aang coming at him, he dropped his shield seconds before his brother tackled him into the Sanctuary and the doors closed shut. "He made it!" said Katara. "And he took Gohan with him!" said Sokka. A bright gold light shines from the doors, blinding everyone on the outside Sanctuary.

Inside the Sanctuary, the brothers were laid out on the floor in front of the statue of Roku. "Wow! Wasn't expecting that!" said Gohan. "Man, nice tackling." "Sorry bro, had to act quick," said Aang as he got up and helped his brother to his feet. "It's ok. Just really hurt since I'm low on ki," said Gohan. The boys then looked at the statue of the previous Avatar as the beam of light touched it. "The light hits the statue and I talk to Roku. So why isn't anything happening?" asked the young monk.

Outside the Sanctuary, Katara, and Sokka were chained up. Zuko and the Fire Sages attempted to open the Sanctuary doors by Firebending into the mouths of the dragons, but doors didn't open at all.

"Why isn't it working? It's sealed shut!" said Zuko.

"It must've been the light, Avatar Roku doesn't want us inside." said the Grand Sage.

The sun was now fully set and the light beam was pointed directly on Avatar Roku's statue. "Why isn't anything happening?" Aang asked no one. "I don't know what I'm doing! All I know is Airbending! Please Avatar Roku, talk me!" Right on cue, the eyes of the statue started to glow and smoke swirled around the boys. When the smoke cleared the boys were surrounded by mountains, and standing directly in front of them was Avatar Roku himself.

"It's good to see you Aang." Roku greeted his successor. "What took you so long?"

The boys bowed in respect to the previous master of the five elements. "I see you brought a friend with you," said Roku as he looked at Gohan. "My name is Gohan sir." said the young fighter. "I know who you are young Energybender; in fact, a friend was hoping to speak with you. He's told me all about you Gohan." "Really? Who?" asked Gohan. Just then, someone was seen walking towards them in the distance. It was a full grown man with black spiky hair like Gohan's except in the shape of a palm tree; he also had black eyes like Gohan's and wore the same Gi as he did. When he stopped next to Roku, he looked towards the young fighter and smiled.

"Hi Gohan, long time no see." said the man.

"Uh hi," said Gohan awkwardly. "I'm sorry, but how do you know my name and who are you?"

"I guess you don't remember me." said the man. "Before I tell you, I want to try something."

"Uh like what?" asked Gohan.

The man suddenly charged at Gohan and threw a punch at him; the young Energybender grabbed the man's fist on instinct. This scene confused Aang while Roku just watched. The man grinned as he backed away from Gohan. "Nice one. Though you're not as strong as you could be, you're still pretty strong." said the man. "Thanks. Now, who are you?" asked Gohan. "My name is Goku, I'm your father," replied Goku. Gohan could only stare at his dad after hearing his answer, Goku just grinned his famous son grin as he waited for his son to register what he said.

"DAD!" cried Gohan as he ran up to hug him.

Goku embraced his son as he petted his hair. Aang smiled at this as he felt happy for his brother. "I-I have so many questions," said Gohan. "I know you do," said Goku. "And I'd like to answer them all, but there's something I need to tell you."

Back outside the Sanctuary, Shyu had his hands behind his back while he was questioned by the Fire Princes. "Why did you help the Avatar?" asked Zuko. "Because it was once the Sages' duty. It is still our duty," replied Shyu. There was a sudden clapping heard by the stairs, everyone turned to see Commander Zhao and a battalion of six Firebenders. "What a moving and heartfelt performance. I'm certain the Fire Lord will understand when you explain why you betrayed him," said Zhao.

"Commander Zhao." greeted the Head Sage as he bowed.

"And Prince Zuko. It was a noble effort, but your little smoke screen didn't work," said Zhao which made Zuko scowl at him. A Fire Soldier suddenly came behind Zuko and grabbed his wrists, restraining him. Trunks tried to attack the Soldier holding Zuko, but he was suddenly knocked into the wall by a green energy blast. Everyone looked to see Brody with his hand extended towards the fallen Prince. "Hey Trunks, did you miss me?" mocked Brody. Trunks replied with a growl as he tried to get up before he was pinned to the wall by Brody.

"Three traitors in one day, the Fire Lord will be pleased." said Zhao.

"We're not traitors! We're hunting the Avatar for the Fire Nation!" exclaimed Trunks.

"And you're too late Zhao!" said Zuko. "The Avatar's inside and the doors are sealed!"

"No matter. Sooner or later, he has to come out," said Zhao. "And then we'll capture him along with his energy bending friend." This put worried looks on the faces of Katara and Sokka.

In the Spirit world, Goku and Roku continued to talk to the boys. "I have something very important to tell you Aang?" explained Roku. "That is why, when you were in the spirit world, I sent my dragon to find you." "Is it about that vision? The one about the Comet?" asked Aang. "Yes," answered Roku. "What does it mean?" asked Aang. "One hundred years ago, Fire Lord Sozin used that Comet to begin the war," said Roku. "He and his Firebending army harnessed its power and dealt a deadly first strike against the other nations. It was that very same Comet that collided with you Gohan, and hurled you into the spirit world."

"Really?" asked Gohan. "So that's what hit me."

"So the Comet made them stronger?" asked Aang.

"Yes, stronger than you could ever imagine." said Roku.

"But that happened a hundred years ago. What does the Comet have to do with the war now?" asked Aang.

"Listen carefully. Sozin's Comet will return by the end of the summer, and Fire Lord Ozai will use its power to finish the war, once and for all," said Roku. "If he succeeds, not even the Avatar will be able to restore balance to the world. Aang, you must defeat the Fire Lord, before the Comet arrives!"

"But I haven't even started learning waterbending, not to mention earth and fire." argued Aang.

"Mastering the elements takes years of discipline and practice, but if the world is to survive you must do it by summer's end." advised the past Avatar. Aang's face expressed shock as he realized how important his destiny was now. Gohan also couldn't hide the shock on his face as the person he viewed as his brother was now burdened with a huge responsibility.

Back outside the Sanctuary, all of Zhao's Fire Soldiers were lined up in front of the doors. They all took their stances as they waited for Aang and Gohan to exit the spirit world. Commander Zhao and Brody stood in the middle if that line. "When those doors open, unleash all your fire power!" Zhao ordered his men. Behind them were the water tribe siblings and Shyu chained to a pillar while Zuko and Trunks were chained to another pillar.

"How are Aang and Gohan gonna make it out of this?"Katara asked her brother.

"How are _we_ gonna make it out of this?" Sokka asked Katara.

Back in the spirit world...

"What if I can't master all the elements in time? What if I fail?" Aang asked his predecessor.

"I know you can do it Aang, for you have done it before," said Roku as he smiled. Gohan placed his hand on the young monk's shoulder and said "Don't doubt yourself bro." said Gohan. "You can do it!" Aang smiled at the encouragement he got from his teacher and brother.

"Um Dad?" said Gohan nervously as he faced his father. "You said you had something important to tell me, what is it?"

Goku face suddenly became serious as he looked his son in the eyes. "Listen Gohan, what I'm about to tell you will seem far-fetched and impossible, but I can assure you that it's all true," said Goku. "So I need you to keep an open mind." The son of Goku nodded, his father took a deep breath and continued. "We are not from this world, this dimension, we come from another world that is a bit similar to this one but is different as well."

"What?!" asked Gohan. "What do you mean?"

"We were originally born in a world where there were no benders aside from Energy benders," explained Goku. "In our world ki was the only thing people trained to master, although some could bend the element to a certain point, it was ki that was commonly used in battle."

"Sounds like how our world started out." said Aang.

"That's because our world was eventually destroyed and reincarnated into this world." said Goku.

"What?!" asked the boys.

"I said that our world was…" repeated Goku before he was cut off.

"We heard you," said Gohan. "It's just a lot to take in."

"There's more. Thousands of years ago when our world still existed, darkness began to consume it, and a being who calmed to be a god blamed humanity for corrupting his precious creation," explained Goku. "He said this world was a failure and needed to be wiped out, and that's exactly what he did!" The more Goku spoke the more his son's face expressed shock. "He completely erased our dimension, no one was spared. The best fighters from our universe tried their best to stop the god's destructive judgment, but none of them stood a chance against this being. In the end, the only left to challenge him were me, you, Vegeta, and Trunks."

"Wait! Did you say Trunks?!" asked Gohan.

"That's right. Trunks is also from our world," replied Goku. "It was the teamwork of him and you that the superior deity was cut in half; his immortal spirit and his mortal body. His spirit was sealed away to prevent it from causing any more harm, but the body decided to take revenge by unleashing a powerful energy attack that wiped out our world entirely. But before the end came, something happened. Another god appeared and asked to grant us one wish for our efforts. However, this deity could not save our world or prevent the darkness that corrupted it from existing. In the end, I made the wish for our world to start over, and thus the end of our world became the beginning of this one."

"Does that mean I've been reincarnated into this world?" asked Gohan.

"Yes, and so have a few other people we used to know," replied Goku. "They were they lucky ones unlike me."

"So that vision I saw a younger version of myself was my past life." deduced the spiky haired teen.

"One of them." corrected the spiky haired man.

"How many do I have?" asked Gohan.

"Who knows?" shrugged Goku.

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Gohan.

"Because you need to get stronger. Some of our past enemies were reborn into this world along with you including the mortal half of the deity," replied Goku. "One day, his spirit half will escape and seek out its mortal half. If the two halves become whole again, he will judge this world, and if he sees it as a failure he will erase it forever. Gohan, you need to get stronger, stronger than you've ever dreamed, you must defeat the mortal half before it fuses with the spiritual half."

"What if I can't get strong enough?" asked Gohan with concern. "What if I don't have the power to save this world like the last one?"

"It's alright son," said Goku as he knelt down to look his son in the eyes while he placed his hand on his shoulder. "You said the same thing when I asked you to fight a monster for me, but you did have the power and you managed to save our world. And don't worry; you won't have to face this guy until after the war ends. So you've got plenty of time to train."

Gohan looked at his father in surprise; Goku simply flashed his favorite grin which filled Gohan with confidence. "I know you can do it Gohan because I believe in you." "Thanks, Dad," said Gohan as he mimicked his father's trademark grin. Goku the stood up and walked back to stand next to Avatar Roku. "The solstice is ending. We must go our separate ways, for now" said Roku. "But neither of us will be able to come back to this temple. What if we have questions? How can we talk to you guys?" asked Aang.

"I am a part of you Aang, and Goku spirit is linked to Gohan's. We both live in the two of you," said Roku. "So when you need to talk to us, you'll find a way." "One last thing Gohan," said Goku. "I'm proud of you son." "Thanks again, Dad," said Gohan. The previous Avatar then closed his eyes allowing the four benders to see a vision of Zhao's ships around the island. _"A great danger awaits both of you outside the Temple,"_ said Roku telepathically as the vision changed to Zhao and his Fire Soldiers waiting outside the temple doors. _"We can help you face the threat, but only if you're ready."_

Aang's tattoos suddenly started glowing along with his eyes; Gohan's black spiky hair stood on its end and changed to spiky gold. His eyes turned from black to emerald and his muscles grew slightly as his body was surrounded by a gold aura. "We're ready!" replied the boys.

The Sanctuary doors suddenly let out a blinding gold light while smoke flew out the doors and filled the temple. The doors began to open slowly, Katara, Sokka, Shyu, Zuko, and Trunks, turned away as the light grew brighter. "Ready…" said Zhao as the doors opened wider and the light died down, revealing two pairs of glowing eyes in a dark room. "Aang, Gohan! No!" cried Katara while her brother struggled against his chains. "Fire!" ordered Zhao. The Commander and his Fire Soldiers all shot fire into the Sanctuary. The fire suddenly swirled around the targets which weren't Aang and Gohan but were Goku and Roku; completely unharmed as the latter bended the fire blasts which shocked the Commander.

"Avatar Roku!" said Shyu in awe.

"And is that Gohan?!" asked Sokka.

Roku then shot the fire back at the Soldiers and knocked them down, at the same time the fire destroyed the chains and freed the prisoners. The Fire Princes quickly broke free and ran to exit the temple. Brody decided to attack the spirit of Goku and fire a green ki blast at him. Goku simply swatted it back at lieutenant Brute, which knocked him into the wall right before the ki blast exploded in his face through the side of the temple.

Goku then jumped up to the ceiling and cupped his hands together while chanting, **"KA…ME…HA…ME…"** a blue star of energy started to form in between his palms. **"HAA!"** shouted Goku as he fired a blue beam of energy into the ground, the beam broke through the floor and dug straight into the volcano where it detonated. Lava soon shot out of the ground to the top of the temple. Brody got up and tried to attack Goku once again, but the older fighter countered by punching him in the chest with a ki enhanced fist in the form of a dragon. Avatar Roku turned to the Sages who cowered away from his glare. The Sages and the Fire Soldiers ran to leave the temple as it started to crumble.

"Avatar Roku is destroying the temple! We have to get out of here!" said Shyu to the water tribe siblings.

"Not without our friends!" urged Katara.

Roku then waved his hand and split the ground apart. Multiple streams of lava shoot out of the ground as Roku lifts his hand. It reaches the top of the temple as Zhao and his Soldiers are escaping. The water tribe siblings were huddle up behind a pillar, the lava finally stopped as Goku landed beside Roku. The two exhaled deeply as the light beam moved off of Avatar Roku's statue. All the smoke then consumed the two spirits before disappearing and revealing Aang and Gohan. The boys fell to their knees before their friends help them up.

"We got your backs." said Sokka.

"Thanks guys." said Gohan.

"Where's Shyu?" asked Aang.

"I don't know." replied Katara.

Lava was now flowing all over the volcano and the temple was sinking into it. The stairs were flooded with lava, preventing the gang from leaving that way. A pillar crashed on the ground as the four teens ran to the hole in the temple wall. The building started to tip over as they stared out at the ocean in despair. The four gasped when they saw Momo flying their way with Appa and Icarus following him. The Bison flew right under the hole for the gang to jump onto his saddle and then flew away. The four gazed back at the temple's destruction before popped up wearing the Head Fire Sage's hat.

Commander Zhao watches the Sky Bison fly away looking very angry. "No Prince! No Avatar!" the Commander yelled. "Apparently the only thing I do have is five traitors!" The Fire Sages were placed on Zhao's ship with their hands behind their backs. "But Commander, only Shyu helped the Avatar." argued the Grand Fire Sage. "Save your stories for the Fire Lord! As far as I'm concerned, you are all guilty!" replied Zhao before he ordered "Take them to the prison hold!" He then noticed two soldiers carrying his injured lieutenant; the armor was damaged, blood dripped from his mouth and forehead along with a star-shaped wound on his chest. "Take him to the infirmary," said Zhao to the Soldiers.

Prince Zuko and Prince Trunks watched the gang fly away with telescopes as their boat sailed away from the Crescent shaped island.

Night time had fallen, the moon was full and everyone was riding on Appa's saddle. As they flew above the clouds, Aang and Gohan sat at the edge of the saddle looking mournful. The water tribe siblings soon approached their friends and sat by them in support. Katara put her hand on Aang's shoulder to comfort the Avatar. As they flew off into the night, Gohan thought about one thing. _"Don't worry father, I won't let you down! But first, Aang needs me!"_

 **A/N: So, how did you like the surprise? Goku and Roku together huh? Didn't see that one coming did ya? Sorry to say this but I'll be taking a short break from fanfics to focus on other things. If things go smoothly I should be able to resume as soon as two weeks from Sunday, if not then I'll try to continue this story in march or maybe I can multitask. Anyway thank you all for your reviews and suggestions, makes the story worth continuing. Until then, TTFN AntiHero out!**

 **Recommendations:**

 **Living the Past and New Face of Justice by Comorep677**

 **Power Within by Xman321**

 **This War of Mine by Sivam-Surprise**

 **RBBY – The Shapeshifter by sparkydragon98**

 **Letting Go and The Kunoichi Twins by Sally B. Mcgill**

 **The Zenotrix: Pride vs Grudge by AntiHero627**

.


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm back! And so is Five Elements! I know I said it would be a while before I posted another chapter for this story, but I had some time to kill. Thank you all for your reviews, questions, and suggestions. They're what encourage me to continue writing. Now it's time to go on with the story. There's also a little surprise in this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own Dragon Ball or Avatar the Last Airbender**

 **Chapter 9**

It was just another day traveling to the North Pole for the and Icarus flew through the mountains with Sokka and Gohan steering, respectively. The Avatar, who was usually driving the bison, was frantically pacing back and forth on Appa's saddle. Ever since their visit to the former fire temple, Aang had been constantly worried about his destiny. "Would you settle down?!" said Sokka as he looked back at Aang. "If we hit a bump, you'll go flying off! What's bugging you anyway?"

"It's what Avatar Roku said," explained Aang. "I'm supposed to master the four elements before that Comet arrives!"

"Well let's see, you pretty much mastered Airbending and that only took you a hundred and fourteen years," said Sokka jokingly. "I'm sure you can master three more elements by next summer."

"I haven't even started Waterbending and we're still weeks away from the North Pole!" said Aang as he resumed pacing. "What am I gonna do?!"

"Calm down, it's gonna be ok!" Katara assured Aang as she grabbed his wrist and sat him down. "If you want, I can try and teach you some of the stuff I know."

"You'd do that?" asked Aang.

Katara nodded before saying, "We'll need to find a good source of water first."

The two benders looked over Appa's saddle as they tried to find a good place for Waterbending. "Maybe we can find a puddle for you to splash in," joked Sokka. The four teens and their pets soon found themselves taking refuge at a large river and waterfall. "Big puddle," said Sokka as he frowned while his sister and Aang smiled widely. "This place is perfect," said Gohan. Appa jumped into the air and landed in the water, creating a big wave that drenched Momo. The Bison rolled onto his back in relaxation. Gohan quickly stripped to his undergarment and jumped into the water as well.

"Yeah! Don't start without me, guys!" shouted Aang as he took off his clothes and prepared to join them.

"Remember the reason we're here, Aang," said Katara.

"Oh right, time to practice Waterbending," said Aang as he put his pants back on.

"Great. So what am I supposed to do?" asked Sokka.

"You could… clean the gunk out of Appa's toes," offered Aang as he held a tree branch to Sokka.

"So, while you guys are playing in the water, I'm supposed to be hard at work picking mud out of a giant bison's feet?" asked the tribesman.

"Mud and bugs," Aang clarified.

Sokka thought about it for a moment before saying, "Ok," and grabbing the tree branch. "You must really be bored," said Gohan as Appa grumbled and sank in the water.

Elsewhere, Zuko's fire navy ship was sailing across the sea while sparks of fire and ki flew off the deck. The fire princes were training by dueling two fire benders. Zuko blocked a fire strike from his opponent and fired three attacks while Trunks dodged two attacks and fired two of his own. The ship suddenly swayed to the side, causing the four benders to slide to the edge of the ship. "Someone's changed our course!" said Zuko. The Princes went inside the ship to where the captain was steering and Iroh was playing pai sho with some men.

"What's the meaning of this mutiny?!" asked Zuko to the Captain. "No one told you to change our course!"

"Actually, someone did," said General Iroh, getting his pupils' attention. "I assure you, it is a matter of utmost importance, Prince Zuko."

"Is it something to do with the Avatar?" asked Zuko.

"Even more urgent. It seems I-I've lost my lotus tile," replied Iroh.

"Lotus tile?" asked Zuko.

"It's a piece for his Pai Sho game," explained Trunks.

"Correct, Prince Trunks," said Iroh. "Most people think the lotus tile is insignificant, but it is essential for the unusual strategy I employ."

"You changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?" asked the Son of Ozai.

"See, you, like most people, underestimate its value," replied Iroh. "Just give me ten minutes to check the merchants. Hopefully, they'll have the lotus tile in stock and I can get on with my life."

Although he didn't say no to Iroh's request, Zuko was clearly angry. He took a deep breath and exhaled fire at the ceiling, filling the whole room with smoke. "I'm lucky to have such an understanding nephew," said Iroh as he smiled.

Back at the waterfall, Appa was floating on his back as Sokka scrubbed in between his toes. The bison moaned happily and Sokka said, "Yeah well, don't get too happy! You've gotta do me next!" On land, Katara was demonstrating her waterbending while Aang sat down and observed. "This is a pretty basic move but it still took me months to perfect," said Katara as she took a stance. "So don't be frustrated if you don't get it right away." Aang nodded in obedience. "Just push and pull the water like this. The key is getting the wrists movement right," explained Katara as she used her hands to push the water back and forth.

The Avatar stood up to join his new mentor. "Like this?" asked Aang as he started copying Katara's movements.

"That's almost right," complemented Katara. "If you keep practicing, I'm sure eventually…"

"Hey, I'm bending it already!" interrupted Aang as he started to push and pull the water.

"Wow, I can't believe you got that so quickly," said Katara. "It took me two months to learn that move."

"Well, you had to figure it out all on your own," said Aang. "I'm lucky enough to have a great teacher."

"Thanks," smiled Katara.

"So what's next?" asked the new Waterbender.

"This is a more difficult move; I call it streaming the water," explained Katara. She then pulled some water out of the river and bent it through the air. "It's harder than it looks, so don't be disappointed if…" she stopped talking when she saw her pupil pulling water from the river. Aang moved the water through the air playfully; Katara dropped her water back into the river while frowning before Aang placed his water back gently. "Nice work, though the over the head flare was unnecessary," said Katara, slightly annoyed. "Sorry," apologized the monk. "Well, don't stop now. Keep 'em coming."

"I kinda know this one other move," said the Waterbender. "I haven't even totally figured it out yet. The idea is to create a big powerful wave." Katara raised her arms as she tried to demonstrate her next move; the water slowly emerged from the river before dispersing quickly. "So, like this?" asked the Avatar as he raised his arms. A giant wave of water suddenly shot out of the river and headed towards Gohan, Sokka, and Appa.

"Whoa!" said Gohan when he saw the wave.

"Aang!" said Sokka when he saw the wave.

The wave splashed against the bison. Appa looked on his stomach and saw Sokka was gone. The wave knocked Sokka into the water and Gohan to the shore. The Water Tribesman emerged from the river with an angry face, his sister's face was equally angry. "Looks like I got the hang of that move," said Aang. "What else you got?" "That's enough practicing for today!" said Katara. "I'll say. You just practiced our supplies down the river," complained Sokka as their supplies floated away. "Uh, sorry. I'm sure we can find somewhere to replace all this stuff," said Aang.

"My life was hard enough when you were just an Airbender," said Sokka as he sank back underwater.

"Wait. Before we go, I want to try out this new move," said Gohan as he stepped back into the river. The Energybender took a stance and cupped his hands together. Aang and Katara watched as Gohan concentrated his energy into a single point and chanted, **"KA…ME…HA…ME…HA!"** Gohan shot his hands forward and fire a blue beam of ki at the river. It splashed against the water and created a second giant wave of water. Sokka emerged from the river in time to see the wave coming at him; he quickly dived back under and the wave splashed down without harming him.

"Whoa!" said Katara and Aang as they stared at Gohan with wide eyes.

Gohan looked at his hands in astonishment before he noticed Sokka glaring at him from the river. "Heh heh! Guess I need to work on controlling that move, huh?" said Gohan sheepishly.

"I take it back, my life was pretty much over the day I met you and Aang," said Sokka.

The Gang eventually made their way to a market that was full of people and ships with goods. The four teens wandered around and saw multiple people trying to sell items and thugs trying to swindle customers. The Water Tribe Siblings had disturbed looks while Aang had a look of joy and Gohan just held a look of curiosity. Sokka eventually went inside a shop to restock on supplies while his companions waited by the sidelines.

"We've got exactly three copper pieces left from the money that King Bumi gave us," said Sokka as he came out of the store with a bag full of supplies. "Let's spend it wisely."

"Uh, make that two copper pieces, Sokka," confessed Aang. "I couldn't say no to this whistle."

The young monk brought out a whistle shaped like a sky bison; he took a deep breath and blew into it. Sokka covered his ears, expecting to hear a loud sound, but was surprised by the whistle's quiet noise. "It doesn't even work," said Sokka. Momo shrieked at Aang when he stopped blowing the whistle. "See, even Momo thinks it's a piece of junk," said Sokka.

"No offense Aang, but I'll hold onto the money from now on," said Katara. The Airbender shamefully handed the money to the Waterbender.

At one of the Ships near the docks, a man with long hair, a mustache, and red lips was trying to draw customers toward his shop with fancy words. "Water Nation, Earth Nation, Fire Nation, so long as bargains are your inclination, you're welcome here! Don't be shy, come on by!" When no one paid him any attention, he looked around and noticed the Gang walking close by. "Oh, you there! I can see from your clothing that you're world traveling types! Perhaps I can interest you in some exotic curios?!" Gohan, Katara, and Sokka ignored him, but Aang turned to him.

"Sure!" said Aang before asking, "What are curios?"

The man blinked and said, "I'm not entirely sure, but we got 'em!"

The Gang was then led onto a ship full of rare exotic items. Aang stared at some of the merchandise with curiosity. Katara stared wondrously at a small statue of a primate with rubies for eyes and around its body. The Airbender continued to scavenge when he heard a stern voice behind him say, "I've never seen such a fine specimen of lemur." He turned around and saw the Captain of the ship with a Lizard Parrot on his shoulder "That beast would fetch me a hefty sum if you'd be interested in bartering." The Parrot screeched at Momo, who hissed back in response. "Momo's not for sale," said Aang as he hugged his pet.

Gohan looked around until he stumbled upon two special merchandise. His eyes fell onto two gold spheres; the first one had four stars in them while the second one had one star on it. The Energy Bender picked up the four stared ball and examined it. _"Why does this sphere seem familiar to me?"_ thought Gohan. He then picked up the one-star ball and compared it to the four-star ball. _"They both seem familiar to me, but this one with four stars seems more personal."_ The young fighter placed the two orbs together, causing them to glow a bit.

Katara eventually came across a shelf full of scrolls; she spotted one with the Water Nation insignia on it and picked it up. When she opened it, she saw drawings of a Waterbender performing some moves step by step. "Look at this, Aang; it's a waterbending scroll!" said Katara excitedly. "Check out these crazy moves!" The Avatar saw the scroll and asked the Captain, "Where did you get a waterbending scroll?" The Captain quickly placed his hand on the scroll and closed it as he replied, "Let's just say I got it up North, at the most reasonable price…free!"

Katara eyed the scroll as the Captain placed it back on the shelf.

"Wait a minute," said Sokka as he started putting clues together. "Sea-loving traders, with suspiciously acquired merchandise, and pet reptile birds? You guys are pirates!"

"We prefer to think of ourselves as high-risk traders," said the red-lipped man.

Katara held out their money leftover and skeptically asked, "So, how much for the, uh, traded scroll?"

"I've already got a buyer, a nobleman in the Earth Kingdom," replied the Captain. "Unless of course, you kids have two hundred gold pieces on you right now?"

"I know how to deal with these guys, Katara. Pirates love to haggle," whispered Aang as he held out his hand for Katara to give him the money. "Watch and learn." The monk then turned to the Captain and held one coin as he said, "What say to the price of… one copper piece?" The Captain laughed before answering, "The price is two hundred gold pieces. I don't haggle on items this rare." "Ok, two copper pieces!" said Aang as he offered two coins. "It's not as amusing the second time, boy!" said the Captain.

Katara then came up to Aang and said, "Aang, can we get out of here? I feel like we're getting weird looks." The Airbender grabbed his staff and said, "Aye, we be casting off now!" Aang, Katara, and Sokka headed toward the exit when they saw Gohan placing the one star ball back on the shelf. "Come on Gohan, let's go!" said Katara as she grabbed his wrist and dragged him away before he could say anything. His hand accidently knocked the one star ball onto the ground.

"What was that all about, Katara?" asked Aang as they left the ship.

"Yeah, I was just starting to browse through their boomerang collection," said Sokka.

"I'll just feel a lot better once we get away from here," replied the Waterbender as she continued to drag Gohan.

Just then one of the Pirates ran out the ship and cried out to the Gang. "Hey, you! Get back here!" Aang turned around expectantly and said, "Well well, look who's come to their senses. Told you the haggling would pay off," A whole gang of Pirates suddenly jumped off the boat armed with weapons, which shocked the monk.

"There they are!" said one Pirate.

"Get 'em!" said another.

"Nobody's going nowhere!" said another.

All the Pirates stood with their weapons ready in case the four teens tried to escape. "I don't think these Pirates are here to trade with us," said Katara just as the Gang started to run. "Get back here!" cried one of the Pirates as they chased after the teens. A few Pirates followed the Gang around the corner while one of them stopped the rest and said, "This way! Let's cut 'em off!" as they took another turn. As the Gang ran, Katara spilled some water and froze it which made one of the Pirates slip and crash; the others jumped over the ice and pursued.

The Cabbage Merchant from Omashu was admiring his cabbages when Sokka bumped into his cart and knocked off some. The merchant quickly caught them just as Katara passed by and knocked over a few more. The merchant caught them again as Gohan jumped over the whole cart and continued to run. The merchant sighed in relief just as Aang jumped through the cart and used his staff to toss the cart at the Pirates. "My cabbages! This place is worse than Omashu!" said the merchant as he walked away. The Pirates lay defeated in a cart of cabbages.

The Gang continued to run until their path was intercepted by three more Pirates; they quickly turned to flee and the Pirates ran after them. "I hope that Lemur of yours has nine lives!" said one of the Pirates. The four travelers eventually ran into a dead end in an alley where the Pirates had them trapped. "Now, who gets to taste the steel of my blade first?" asked the red lipped Pirate as he swung his knives. "No thanks!" replied Aang. He then swung his staff at the ground, creating a dust cloud that blinded the Pirates.

"Hang on tight!" instructed Aang as he opened his glider and ran towards the Pirates with his friends close behind.

"Aang, I thought we were running away from the Pirates!" said Katara as she and Sokka grabbed onto Aang's glider.

"Just hang on!" repeated Aang.

The Gang suddenly jumped over the Pirates' heads and took off into the air (Gohan, Momo, and Aang, who was carrying the Water Tribe siblings). The Pirates watched as their targets flew away from the market. The four teens and their lemur landed back at their waterfall campsite.

"I used to kind of look up to Pirates, but those guys are terrible!" said Aang as he closed his glider.

"I know; that's why I took… this!" said Katara as she revealed the stolen waterbending scroll.

"No way!" said Aang in disbelief.

"Isn't it great?!" asked Katara.

"No wonder they were trying to hack us up; you stole their waterbending scroll!" said Sokka.

"I prefer to think of it as, high risk trading," joked Katara.

"Good one, Katara," laughed Aang.

"I thought they were after us because I had this," said Gohan as he revealed the four star orb.

"Whoa! What is that?" asked Aang as he stared at the orb.

"I don't know, but it feels like I've seen this somewhere before," said Gohan. "There was another one with one star at that Pirate shop that looked familiar as well."

"And you stole that from them too," said Sokka disapprovingly.

"Hey! I didn't steal it on purpose!" explained Gohan defensively. "Katara rushed me out of there before I could put it back, and I forgot that I still had it when we ran from those Pirates in panic."

"Besides, where do you think they got this scroll from?" Katara asked her brother. "They stole it from a Waterbender!"

"It doesn't matter! You put all our lives in danger just so you could learn some stupid fancy splashes," complained Sokka.

"These are real waterbending forms!" argued Katara. "You know how crucial it is for Aang to learn waterbending."

"Whatever," scoffed Sokka as he walked away.

"Well, what's done is done," said Aang. "We have it; we might as well learn from it."

Back at the market, Zuko's Ship was at the docks while General Iroh searched the market for a lotus tile with his pupils. Trunks and Zuko stood outside the market as they waited for Iroh to return. "I've checked all the shops on this pier," said Iroh as he returned. "Not a lotus tile in the entire market place."

"Sorry to hear that, Iroh," said Trunks.

"It's good to know that this trip was a complete waste of time for everyone!" said Zuko as he glared at his uncle.

"Quite the contrary," argued Iroh. "I always say the only thing better than finding something you're looking for, is finding something you weren't looking for at a great bargain!"

Some fire soldiers passed by them carrying some just purchased merchandise; one of them was carrying a giant twisted horn.

"That's a lot of stuff you weren't looking for," commented Trunks.

"You bought a sungi horn?" asked Zuko.

"For music night on the ship," explained Iroh. "Now if we only had some woodwinds." He then wandered off with Trunks and Zuko close behind. "Oh, this place looks promising!" said Iroh as he pointed to the Pirate ship. The three entered the ship, where Iroh saw the primate statue covered with rubies. "Oh, that is handsome! Wouldn't it look magnificent in the gallery?" asked Iroh as he picked up the statue. Trunks looked around until he stepped on something round and hard. He looked down and saw a gold orb with one star in the center. The lavender haired Prince picked up the sphere and examined it. _"Where have I seen this before?"_ thought Trunks. He then turned to ship's Captain and asked, "How much for this orb?"

The Captain looked at the one star ball and replied, "Fifty gold pieces, kid." Trunks pulled out a bag full of money and opened it; he laid out fifty gold coins for the captain to see. The Captain collected the money and said, "Ya know, we have a second sphere just like that one but with four stars. We'd be happy to sell it to ya once we get it back; that is if you're interested in buying it?" _"So there's more, huh?"_ thought Trunks before he said, "Sure, I'll buy the second one too." Just then, the Captain's second in command entered the ship to give his report.

"We lost the Water Tribe girl and the little bald monk she was traveling with," said the Pirate. This information captured the Fire Princes' interest. "Doesn't that sound like someone we know?" asked Trunks. "This monk, did he have an arrow on his head?" Zuko asked the Pirates while Iroh was playing with the Primate statue.

Back at the waterfall, Gohan continued to examine the four star ball while Katara and Aang were studying the waterbending scroll. _"I know I should probably return this to the Pirates, but I feel so attached to it that I can't let it go so easily!"_ the young fighter thought. He then placed the orb in a small pouch and watched his brother and Katara practice with the scroll. "I just want to try this one move first and then it's all yours," said Katara as she pointed to one of the moves on the scroll. "Here, hold it open for me." Katara gave the scroll to Aang and took a few steps back.

She took a bending stance as she examined the scroll. "The single Water Whip," said Katara as she looked at the steps. "Looks doable." She gently pulled water out of the river and tried to use it as a whip, but the water suddenly smacked her in the forehead. Sokka laughed at his sister's failed attempt.

"What's so funny?" asked Katara.

"I'm sorry, but you deserve that," answered Sokka before he spoke to Aang. "You've been duped; she's only interested in teaching herself."

"Aang will get his turn once I figure out the Water Whip!" argued Katara.

She tried once more to perform the Water Whip, but the water slipped from her control once more, this time smacking Momo in the rear, making him screech. "Ugh, why can't I get the stupid move?!" Katara asked furiously. "You'll get it," said Aang encouragingly, but Katara only frowned at him. The Avatar placed the scroll down and took a stance. "You just gotta shift your weight through the stances," advised Aang as he performed the Water Whip perfectly. "There, see? The key to bending is…"

"WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT YOUR AIRHOLE?! BELIEVE IT OR NOT, YOUR INFINITE WISDOM GETS A LITTLE OLD SOMETIMES! WHY DON'T WE JUST THROW THE SCROLL AWAY SINCE YOU'RE SO NATURALLY GIFTED?!" Katara yelled at Aang's face. She glanced at her brother, who was frowning at her. "What?!" she asked. The Waterbender looked back at Aang and saw the expression of hurt on his face.

"That was uncalled for, Katara," said Gohan.

"Oh my gosh Aang, I'm so sorry," said Katara sincerely. "I don't know what came over me. But you know what, it won't happen again." She closed the scroll and handed it to the Airbender. "Here, this is yours. I don't wanna have anything to do with it anymore!"

"It's ok, Katara," said Aang.

"What about Gohan? It's his brother you were yelling at," mentioned Sokka.

"I'm sorry, Gohan," said Katara.

"Apology accepted," replied Gohan.

"What about Momo? He's the real victim here," said Sokka as the lemur was rubbing his rear.

"I'm sorry, Momo," said Katara as she petted the lemur.

"And what about me? There was that time you…" Sokka started to say

"No more apologies!" said Katara.

At the market place, Zuko's ship was still docked when the boat was lowered into the water. The Pirates and Zuko's crew were sailing the river together in search of the Gang. "Shouldn't we stop to search the woods?" asked the Pirate Captain. "We don't need to stop," said Zuko. "They stole a waterbending scroll right?" "Mm hmm," replied the Captain. "Then they'll be on the water," said Zuko.

Night had finally fallen. The Gang was resting on the ground around a campfire fast asleep, except for a certain Water Tribe girl. Katara got out of her sleeping bag and pulled the waterbending scroll out of Sokka's sack. She quietly stepped away before turning around to face the curious eyes of the Lemur bat. Momo cooed at the Waterbender until she shushed him and whispered, "Momo, go back to sleep." Katara walked past the lemur who cooed again until she shushed him a second time. She hurried off with the scroll so quickly she didn't notice Gohan's sleeping bag was also empty.

Katara stood by the river with the scroll opened up on a stump as she tried to master the Water Whip. She pulled water out of the river, only for it to collapse back into the river. "Shoot! Come on water, work with me here!" Katara cried in frustration before trying again. "Ok, what if I just… Ow! Stupid scroll!"

On their boats, Zuko and the Pirate Captain heard Katara's yelling and looked to each other. "Ok Katara, shift your weight through the stances," the Waterbender instructed herself, only to fail again. " **HA!** " a battle cry was heard seconds before a blue beam splashed against the river, creating a wave that drenched Katara. She quickly grabbed the scroll and hid herself when she heard a familiar voice. "Wow! I almost had it that time!" said Gohan. "Gohan?! What are you doing out here?!" asked Katara as she revealed herself.

"Trying to master controlling that move I used earlier," replied Gohan. "I'm so close to perfecting the Kamehameha."

"I'm sure you are," said Katara sarcastically.

"Wait a minute, what are you doing out here, Katara?" Gohan asked his friend.

"Me? Well, I-I was just…" Katara stammered as she sweatdropped nervously.

Gohan looked behind her and saw the waterbending scroll hidden behind her back. He raised an eyebrow as he asked, "I thought you said you wanted nothing to do with that scroll?" Katara sighed as she lowered her head in shame and replied, "I didn't mean that, I just want to get this move down and prove that I'm a capable Waterbender." Katara sat down on the stump and stared at the river. Gohan stood next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just because you can't do any fancy waterbending moves doesn't mean you're not a capable Waterbender," said Gohan. "You shouldn't let your jealousy of Aang stop you from thinking clearly."

"I'm not jealous of Aang!" argued Katara.

"Yes, you are," said Gohan calmly.

Katara was about to deny it but she stopped when she realized she couldn't convince her friend. "I just don't understand how he can be better than me at Waterbending. I know he's the Avatar but I never thought he would get it down so fast; we were supposed to learn together," said Katara. "You don't know what it's like Gohan, you're an Energybender."

"So what? That means I don't understand how it feels to be less talented than someone?" asked Gohan. "I've seen two Energy benders who are clearly better than me, so I know what it means to be jealous of someone better than me, but I don't let that get to me. It just motivates me to work harder and get stronger so that one day I'll be better than them."

Katara looked towards the spiky haired teen, who was smiling at her. "Aang maybe better at waterbending than you now, but you should remember that you're the one who taught him waterbending in the first place. Instead of focusing on beating Aang, you should strive to master waterbending at your own pace." Katara smiled at her friend and hugged him. "Thanks for the pep talk, Gohan."

The two teens suddenly heard something wash against the shore; they looked through the bushes and saw Zuko's boat docked by the river. Katara backed away and bumped into one of the Pirates, who grabbed her. "No, let go of me!" cried Katara. "Katara!" cried Gohan. The young fighter charged at the big Pirate but was grabbed by two more Pirates. Katara pulled water out of the river and slapped the Pirate's face with it, forcing him to let her go. She tried to run but ended up bumping into Prince Zuko.

"I'll save you from the Pirates," said Zuko.

"Let her go!" cried Gohan as he broke away from the Pirates. He charged at Zuko with his fist fueled with his ki. Just as he was about to nail Zuko, he was suddenly struck in the back by a yellow energy blast from Prince Trunks. The black haired fighter crashed into the ground before he was restrained by the Pirates. "Hello Gohan, nice to see you again." greeted Trunks. He then noticed the small pouch around Gohan's waist that was glowing a bit. "What's this?"

The lavender haired Prince grabbed the pouch from the young fighter and opened it; his eyes widened when he saw the four starred orb. "Hey, give that back!" ordered Gohan. "I don't think so," replied Trunks as he pulled out the four star ball.

Pretty soon, both benders were tied to a tree surrounded by Fire Soldiers and Pirates. "Tell me where he is, and I won't hurt you or your brother," said Zuko as he questioned Katara about the Avatar. "Go jump in the river!" Katara yelled back at the prince. "Try to understand, I need to capture him to restore something I've lost: my honor," said Zuko as he approached the girl and spoke calmly. Katara just turned her head away from the Firebender. "Perhaps in exchange I can restore something you've lost." The Fire Prince placed Katara's necklace by her neck for her to see. "My mother's necklace!" said Katara as Zuko walked away from her. "How did you get that?!"

"I didn't steal it if that's what you're wondering," replied Zuko. "Tell me where he is!"

"No!" answered Katara.

"This isn't working," said Trunks. "They won't tell us anything,"

"Listen Trunks," said Gohan. "There's something I need to tell you!"

"Is it something to do with the Avatar?" asked Trunks.

"No! But it's really important; you just need to trust me!" urged Gohan.

"Then you can tell me about it once we have the Avatar," replied Trunks.

"What are you talking about, Gohan? What's so important that you need to tell someone from the Fire Nation?" asked Katara.

"I'll explain later," answered Gohan.

"Enough of this nonsense," said the Pirate Captain. "You promised the scroll!"

Prince Zuko brought the waterbending scroll and held over a hand of fire. "I wonder how much money this is worth," said the Prince. The Pirates' faces held looks of distress which answered the prince's question. "A lot, apparently. Now you help me find what I want, you'll get this back, and everyone goes home happy. Search the woods for the boy and meet back here!"

"Fine," agreed the Captain before he and his men left.

The next morning, Sokka woke up to see that his sister wasn't in her sleeping bag. "Where did she go?" asked the Tribesman. He looked into his sack as the Avatar stirred awake. "I don't believe it, and Gohan's gone too?" complained Sokka when he noticed a certain scroll was missing from his bag. "What's wrong?" yawned Aang. "She took the scroll!" said Sokka. "She's obsessed with that thing; it's just a matter of time before she gets us all in deep—AAH!"

The Oldest boy screamed as his hands were tied by a whip and he was pulled towards a Pirate. The Pirate swung his whip at Sokka who rolled away and grabbed his war club to fight back. Another Pirate showed up for the ambush carrying a crossbow with a large net; he fired said net at the Airbender. Aang launched an airball at the net but it didn't deflect it and he was captured by it. "I've got em, come on!" cried the Pirate that grabbed the captured monk. The one fighting Sokka knocked him down and ran away with the one dragging Aang. "Oh what? I'm not good enough to kidnap?" asked Sokka seconds before he was caught with a net and dragged away.

The Pirates brought Aang and Sokka back to where the Fire Soldiers were keeping Gohan and Katara. The boys had their hands restrained as they were presented to Prince Zuko. "Nice work," Zuko complimented. Sokka struggled against his restraints as did Gohan while Aang and Katara looked toward each other.

"Aang, this is all my fault," said Katara.

"No Katara, it isn't," argued Aang.

"Yeah, it kind of is," said Iroh.

"Give me the boy!" commanded Zuko.

"You give us the scroll!" the Captain countered.

"You're really gonna hand over the Avatar for some stupid piece of parchment?" asked Sokka in disbelief.

"Don't listen to him; he's trying to turn us against each other!" Zuko warned.

"Your friend is the Avatar?" asked the Captain as he turned to Aang with curiosity.

"Sure is, and I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market than that fancy scroll," said Sokka.

"Shut your mouth, you Water Tribe peasant!" Zuko yelled to Sokka.

"This isn't going to end too well," muttered Trunks.

"Yeah Sokka, you really should shut your mouth," advised Aang.

"Whose side are you on anyway?" asked Gohan.

"I'm just saying, it's bad business sense," said Sokka as he continued to sway the Pirates to breaking the deal. "Just imagine how much the Fire Lord would pay for the Avatar. You guys would be set for life!"

Now convinced, the Captain said, "Keep the Scroll! We can buy a hundred with the reward we'll get for the kid!" and began to walk away with his crew, taking Aang and Sokka with them. "You'll regret breaking a deal with me!" said Zuko. He and two other Firebenders kicked fireballs at the Pirates. The Sea loving traders jumped back while their lieutenant ran forward and threw three smoke bombs at the Firebenders at the same time ducking another fire attack. Zuko and his men were blinded by the smoke as the red lipped Pirate jumped at them with his knives out.

Some of the Fire soldiers ran through the smoke and charged at Aang and Sokka with spears, but the remaining Pirates blocked their paths and threw more smoke bombs on the ground. The Soldiers stopped in front of the smoke cloud but were pulled in by the Pirates. Momo suddenly appeared and chewed through the restraints of Katara and Gohan. "Thanks Momo, we owe you a bushel of Apples," said Katara once they were free. Inside the smoke, Aang was coughing as he wandered through it. He suddenly bent backward to avoid a disk that cut the ropes around his wrists and followed up by avoiding a spear that sliced the rest of his binds.

Prince Zuko suddenly jumped out of the smoke while holding the waterbending scroll. He placed it right in his belt as he glanced behind himself, and he immediately ducked to avoid a sword slash from the Pirate Captain. The Captain drew back his blade while Zuko took a fighting stance. He threw three fire attacks at the Captain, but the Pirate blocked them and thrust his sword forward which Zuko blocked with his wrist guard. He then threw another fire attack that the Captain ducked before grabbing Zuko's arm while Zuko grabbed his arm. The scroll was suddenly snatched by a whip from another Pirate, but the Lemur bat flew by and grabbed it with his feet. The reptile bird saw Momo flying and rammed into him, causing the scroll to fall into the giant smoke cloud.

Gohan ran through the smoke while knocking out any Pirate and Fire soldier he saw. He then stopped when he saw Trunks fighting off a few Pirates with the pouch by his waist. He charged at the lavender haired Prince with his fist ready; Trunks noticed him and blocked the attack by grabbing Gohan's fist. The two were soon moved out of the smoke as they glared at each other; they backed away from each other while still glaring.

"You have something I want," said Gohan.

The Prince pulled out the four star ball and asked, "You mean this?"

"Give it to me Trunks, now!" ordered Gohan.

"You want it? You're gonna have to take it from me!" challenged Trunks.

"Challenge accepted!" said Gohan as he took a stance.

"I'll even give you an advantage," said Trunks as he grasped the four starred ball with his left hand. "I'll only use one arm for this fight."

"What?! There's no way; you're trying to trick me!" accused Gohan.

"Nope, dead serious!" Trunks assured his opponent.

"Come on, Trunks, you know that's impossible," urged Gohan. "You can't beat me with one arm!"

"We'll see about that!" said Trunks as he charged at Gohan. The older fighter tried to hit his foe with a hand chop attack but it was blocked by Gohan's arm. The spiky haired boy attempted to kick Trunks but the Prince dodged it and tried to punch Gohan. The two Energy benders were locked in combat; although they seemed evenly matched, Gohan continuously gained the upper hand since Trunks was fighting with one arm. Gohan skull bashed Trunks in the face; the Prince quickly recovered and punched Gohan in the right cheek. The two continued to duke it out inside the smoke screen while avoiding weapons from Pirates and Fire Soldiers. Gohan punched Trunks' stomach before kicking his face and the Prince countered by punching Gohan's chest.

Trunks was being pushed back as Gohan fought with more unrelenting force than himself. With every punch he gave, Gohan would counter with a punch and a kick, every elbow bash was countered with a skull bash and a palm strike, every kick was blocked and countered with a knuckle blow.

Eventually, Gohan managed to catch Trunks off guard by restraining his limbs and attempted to punch his face. In desperation, Trunks tossed the four starred ball into the air and blocked Gohan's attack with his left arm; he then caught the orb with his right arm and skull bashed his enemy in the face. Gohan broke away from the Prince and rubbed his face; he glared at Trunks who was taking deep breaths.

"Hey! You said you'd only use one arm!" complained Gohan.

"And I still am!" replied Trunks. "I never specified which arm I would use! If I switch arms, it still counts as one arm!"

"That's cheating!" said Gohan.

"Call it what you want, but you're not gonna get this sphere if you don't beat me!" said Trunks.

"Fine!" cried Gohan as he charged at Trunks furiously. The two Energy benders resumed their fight. Gohan continued to overtake his opponent while trying to swipe the four starred ball from him. Trunks had hand chopped Gohan, but he shook it off and elbow bashed the Prince. Trunks attempted to hand chop Gohan again but the younger fighter blocked his strike as he said, "Gotcha now! FACE KICK!" The lavender haired fighter was hit hard in the face by Gohan's foot. The black haired boy quickly shouted, "FACE PUNCH!" as he struck Trunks right in the head, disorienting him a bit.

Trunks staggered away from his opponent as he tried to overcome his dizziness. When his vision came back and he saw Gohan smirking, he gritted his teeth as he fired an energy blast at the boy's chest.

Gohan flew backward and landed on his side. Trunks fired another energy attack at him but he quickly jumped into the air to avoid further damage. The Prince jumped after him and appeared above him and knocked him to the ground before rapidly firing multiple Ki blasts. When he stopped firing for a moment, Gohan jumped into the air with his hands cupped together. " **KA… ME… HA… ME…** " the younger fighter chanted as he focused his energy in between his palms. A blue star of ki started to form and expand in his hands.

"Now you lose!" cried Trunks as he concentrated ki into his left hand; he shot his hand toward Gohan and yelled, " **BURNING BLAST!** " as he fired a large gold beam at his foe. " **HAA!** " cried Gohan as he fired his own blue beam to counter Trunks' attack. The two beams collided and pushed against each other. Trunks' beam started to expand as it got closer to Gohan. " **MORE POWER!** " cried Gohan as he forced every bit of his energy into the blast and the Kamehameha grew more, immediately consuming Trunks' attack seconds before crashing into Trunks.

The Prince was thrown into the air and landed on his back as he fell unconscious. Gohan was breathing very heavily as he slowly approached Trunks and said, "Sorry it had to come to this, but I can't let anyone have this orb!" as he grabbed the four star ball from Trunks' hand and left to find his friends.

Inside the smoke field, fire continuously flew in all directions as did knives and spears. Sokka was crawling on the ground when a knife suddenly landed in front of him. He used it to cut the ropes around his wrists as he called out to his friend, "Aang, are you there?!"

"I'm over here! Follow my voice!" replied Aang as he jumped into the air.

"Where? I can't find you!" cried Sokka.

"I'm right here!" yelled the Airbender. He then blew all the smoke around him away and found himself surrounded by armed Fire Soldiers and Pirates. Aang quickly recovered himself in smoke and said, "Uh, never mind, I'll find you!" Sokka crawled out of the smoke just as Aang jumped out of it and yelled, "Run!" The two ran over to where their female companion was pushing against the Pirate ship; there, they met up with Gohan. "Katara, you're ok!" said Aang. "Help me get this boat back in the water so we can get out of here!" said Katara. The four teens pushed against the boat but it didn't budge at all.

"We need a team of Rhinos to budge this ship," suggested Sokka.

"A team of Rhinos, or two Waterbenders," said Aang as he looked at Katara, who smiled at him.

Aang and Katara moved their hands back and forth as they pulled the water from the river under the ship, and the water eventually lifted the ship off the shore and Katara said, "Everybody in!"

Prince Zuko and the Pirate Captain were still fighting when Iroh grabbed both of them and asked, "Are you so busy fighting you cannot see your own ship has set sail?!"

"We have no time for your proverbs, uncle," said Zuko.

"It's no proverb!" said Iroh. He pointed toward the Pirate ship which was drifting away with the Gang inside. "Bleeding Hog Monkeys!" cried the Captain as he ran after his ship. Zuko laughed at the Captain until he saw his own boat sailing after the ship with the Pirates on board. "Hey, that's my boat!" cried Zuko as he ran after his boat.

"Maybe it should be a proverb," Iroh mused to himself.

"Come on, uncle!" ordered Zuko.

Zuko's boat was gaining on the Pirate ship. Aang saw this and called out to his friend who was at the steering wheel, "Sokka, can't you make it go any faster?!" "I don't know how!" replied Sokka "This thing wasn't made by the Water Tribe!" Pretty soon, Zuko's boat sailed right next to the Pirate ship, allowing the Pirates to jump onto the ship. Acting quickly, Aang made a giant wave to wash the Pirates off the ship, though one of the Pirates managed to stay onboard. Katara took him out by trying out the Water Whip, which she finally perfected.

"Hey, you did the Water Whip!" said Aang.

"I couldn't have done it without your help!" thanked Katara.

"Will you two quit congratulating each other and help me out?!" asked Sokka as he struggled against two Pirates. Meanwhile, Momo was still having his own battle against the Lizard Parrot; the two pets flew through the air with the Parrot following the Lemur's every move. Eventually they climbed up the mast to the flagpole and Momo used the flag to tie up the Reptile Bird.

Gohan had encountered three more Pirates. He kicked the first one into the water. The second one swung a whip at him, but he quickly dodged it and used a Ki wave to knock the man off the ship. The last one tried to jab Gohan with a spear, but he quickly grabbed the weapon and used it as a lever to propel the Pirate into the river.

The Pirates that Sokka was tussling with managed to get the best of him as one of them threw him into the Ship's mast. Aang appeared behind one of the Pirates and blasted him away with an air strike; he then knocked the second one off his feet and used his airbending to launch him off the ship before going to check on Sokka. "Aang, look!" cried Katara as she pointed ahead. The Avatar saw that their ship was headed toward a waterfall and said, "Oh no." The remaining Pirate came up to Aang holding a knife. The monk pulled out his bison whistle and blew hard into it; the Pirate looked at the boy in confusion and prepared to strike, but Sokka kicked his knife out of his hand before kicking him into the river. "Have you lost your mind?! This is no time for flute practice!" Sokka cried to Aang.

The Gang watched with fear as the ship got closer to the waterfall. "We can stop the boat! Aang, together! Push and pull the water!" instructed Katara. The two Waterbenders moved their hands from side to side as they concentrated on controlling the waves. "It's working, it's slowing down!" cried Katara as the water pushed against the ship. The two continued to bend the river, creating two whirlpools that stopped the ship at the edge of the waterfall. "We're doing it!" exclaimed Katara.

"But we got another problem!" said Sokka as he pointed to Zuko's boat that was still headed toward them.

"I got it!" cried Gohan as he turned toward the boat and cupped his hands together. "Kamehameha!" cried the Energy bender, but instead of a giant blue beam like he wanted, a small puff of ki exploded from his hands.

"What was that?!" asked Sokka.

"That was me with no energy left to do anything but scream!" replied Gohan.

Zuko's boat rammed into the Pirate ship, tipping it over and pushing it toward the waterfall. The Gang slid to the edge of the ship as it started to go over the waterfall; they all held hands and yelled, "JUMP!" The four jumped off the ship and began to plummet down the river when suddenly Appa appeared and flew under the teens, catching them in his saddle just as the boats fell to the bottom of the waterfall. Appa flew off into the air away from the waterfall as the boats smashed against the water.

"I knew a bison whistle would come in handy," said Aang as he held up the whistle. "Thanks Appa!"

"Yeah, we owe you one," agreed Sokka as Momo rested on his shoulder.

Icarus then flew up to Appa's saddle and licked Gohan's cheek, making the boy smile. "Hey Icarus," greeted Gohan as he jumped onto his dragon's back.

Back on the shore, Zuko had reached the end of the Waterfall just after his boat went over it. "My boat!" cried the teenage Firebender. His Uncle and lieutenant finally caught up to him and stopped to catch their breath. "Prince Zuko, you're really gonna get a kick out of this," chuckled Iroh as he pulled something out of his sleeve. "The lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!" Trunks fell over anime style while Zuko took a few huffs; he then grabbed the lotus tile from Iroh and threw it over the waterfall. It bopped one of the Pirates who was at the bottom on the head.

"Aang, I still owe you an apology," said Katara as the Gang flew above the clouds. "You were just so good at Waterbending without really trying; I got so competitive that I put us all in danger. I'm sorry."

"That's ok, Katara," said Aang.

"Besides, who needs that stupid scroll anyway?" asked Katara.

"Is that really how you feel?" asked Sokka as he waved said scroll at his sister.

"The Scroll!" said Katara as she reached for it, but her brother put up his hand to stop her.

"First, what did you learn?" asked Sokka.

"Stealing is wrong…" replied Katara. Her brother smiled and put his hand down; Katara then snatched the scroll and finished her sentence. "… unless it's from Pirates!"

"Good one, Katara," laughed Aang.

Gohan then pulled out the four starred ball and stared at it; the ball glowed repeatedly as he looked at it in a trance. "Hey Gohan, whatcha got there?" asked Aang. Gohan snapped out of his trance and replied, "Just this strange orb."

"You mean the one you stole from the Pirates?" asked Sokka.

"I didn't steal… oh, forget it," said Gohan. "Yes, that one." He then held it out for his friends to see, and they all stared at the sphere in wonder. "It's beautiful," said Katara as she took it to hold. She passed it to Aang, who examined it and said, "I've never seen anything like it before." The monk then gave it to Sokka, who stared at it with little interest and asked, "What's so special about this ball anyway?" "I'm not sure, but I feel like I'm connected to this thing somehow," said Gohan as he took it back. "I feel like I shouldn't let it fall into the wrong hands."

"What would happen if it does?" asked Aang.

"Not sure, but it can't be good!" replied Gohan as he glanced at the ball one last time and thought, _"What secrets do you hold?"_

 **A/N: There, how'd you like that one? Now it's time to move on and continue this story. Thank you all for your patience and your reviews/suggestions. Don't worry, all secrets will be revealed in time. Until then TTFN AntiHero out!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hope you guys liked the last chapter because the story's only going to get better! There's going to be one good surprise and a little bad one, but please just go with it.**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own Dragon Ball Z or Avatar the Last Airbender**

 **Chapter 10**

After their last adventure, the Gang was camping inside a forest that had trees with red leaves. Momo had wandered off on his own to find some food. He spotted a bug on a branch and pounced on it, but the bug escaped his grasp and flew away. The Lemur climbed after the bug; it landed on the ground and Momo pounced at it again. The bug flew away and Momo spotted a pile of litchi nuts on top of some red leaves. He jumped at the nuts and ended up ensnared in a metal cage that was hanging from a tree. There were two more cages with Hog Monkeys trapped in them. The animals started screeching in fear.

"Where's Momo?" asked Aang.

The four teens suddenly heard the Lemur Bat's screeching and went to find him; they finally came across the three cages hanging from trees. "Hang on, Momo!" said Aang. The Airbender jumped up the trees to where his lemur was caged. He lowered the cage to the water Tribe siblings, who released Momo. The Lemur jumped out of his cage and started munching on a nut, making Sokka slap his forehead. Aang landed on the ground in time for the other two traps to be cut down from their trees, courtesy of Gohan. The cages hit the ground and split open, allowing the Hog Monkeys to escape.

"These are Fire Nation traps; you can tell from the metal work," said Sokka as he examined the cages. "We'd better pack up camp and get moving!"

The three benders quickly packed up the things and were loading them onto their flying beasts until Sokka interrupted them. "Uh uh, no flying this time!" said Sokka.

"What? Why wouldn't we fly?" asked Aang.

"Think about it. Somehow Prince Zuko, Prince Trunks, and the Fire Nation keep finding us," replied Sokka."It's because they spot Appa; he's too noticeable."

"What? Appa's not too noticeable!" Katara defended the bison.

"He's a gigantic fluffy monster with an arrow on his head! It's kinda hard to miss him!" Sokka pointed out.

"Sokka's just jealous 'cause he doesn't have an arrow," said Aang to Appa.

"And Icarus doesn't help either," said Sokka.

"How does Icarus help the Fire nation find us?" asked Gohan.

"An adorable little magic beast flying through the sky isn't something you see every day," said Sokka.

"Considering how fast he flies, he's not something you can see at all," argued Gohan.

"I know you all wanna fly but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and walk," said Sokka.

"Who made you the boss?" asked Katara.

"I'm not the boss, I'm the leader," Sokka corrected his sister.

"You're the leader? But your voice still cracks," laughed Katara.

"I'm the oldest and I'm a warrior, so I'm the leader!" said Sokka as he tried to deepen his voice.

"If anyone's the leader, it's Aang. I mean he is the Avatar," said Katara.

"Are you kidding? He's just a goofy kid," argued Sokka.

"He's right," agreed Aang as he was hanging upside down from Appa's horn.

"What about Gohan? He's an Energy bender and he's better at fighting than you are," said Katara.

"Yeah, when it comes to using his fists instead of his head," argued Sokka.

"Hey! I can use my head in a fight!" argued Gohan indignantly.

"Sure you can, you're just not a leader," said Sokka as he picked up his stuff.

"Why do boys always think someone has to be the leader?" asked Katara. "I bet you wouldn't be so bossy if you kissed a girl."

"I've kissed a girl, you just haven't met her," said Sokka without looking at his sister.

"Who? Gran-Gran? I've met Gran-Gran," teased Katara.

"No, besides Gran-Gran!" said Sokka. "Look, my instincts tell me we have a better chance slipping through on foot, and a leader has to trust his instincts," said Sokka.

"Ok, we'll try it your way, o wise leader," said Katara.

"Who knows, walking might be fun," said Aang as he picked up his own bag. After walking for ten minutes, the monk, the Waterbender, and the fighter were tired of walking. "Walking stinks!" complained Aang. "How do people go anywhere without a flying bison or dragon?" "Well I don't know, Aang, why don't you ask Sokka's instincts?" Katara suggested sarcastically. "They seem to know everything." "I doubt they'll have an answer to that question," said Gohan. "Ha ha, very funny," said Sokka. "I'm tired of carrying this pack," said Aang. "You know who you should ask to carry it for awhile? Sokka's instincts," joked Katara. "That's a great idea!" agreed Aang. "Hey, Sokka's instincts, would you mind…"

"Ok ok, I get it!" said Sokka. "Look guys, I'm tired too, but the important thing is that we're safe from the fire… nation…"

As Sokka said that, the Gang walked through a bush right into a fire nation camp; the four teens stared with wide eyes at the numerous Firebenders and Fire soldiers who were looking back at them with surprised looks. "Or at least we would be if we just flew away on our too noticeable beasts," whispered Gohan. "RUN!" ordered Sokka. The Gang dropped their bags and tried to flee, but the soldiers quickly got up after them. The captain shot fire to block their path.

"We're cut off!" said Sokka.

"Sokka, your shirt!" cried Aang.

Katara quickly brought out some water from her pouch and used it to douse the fire on her brother's clothing. The Fire camp cornered the Gang, so the four teens held their positions as they prepared to fight their way out. "If you let us pass, we promise not to hurt you," said Sokka. "What are you doing?" whispered Katara. "Bluffing," Sokka whispered back. "I don't think he's buying it," whispered Gohan.

"You? Promise not to hurt us?" asked the Captain when he was suddenly struck by something and fell on his face, unconscious. "Nice work, Sokka," said Aang. "How'd you do that?" "Uh, instinct?" replied Sokka. "I don't think that was him," said Gohan. "Look!" cried Katara as she pointed toward the trees. A young man with dark brown hair, wearing different pads on his clothing was standing on a branch; he pulled twin hooked swords and swung from a tree branch, landing on top of two fire soldiers. The teenager charged at two more soldiers and grabbed their ankles with his swords. He front flipped and tossed the soldiers onto their captain, where they fell unconscious.

"Down you go!" said the teen as he landed on his feet.

The Gang stared at the teenage warrior in curiosity while another soldier tried to strike the teen from behind, but he quickly blocked the attack and knocked out the soldier. Another boy with brown hair wearing a red headband, white shirt, and strange gauntlets that had wrist blades on them descended from the trees. He kicked one of the soldiers and blocked an assault from another before punching him in the face. A third fire soldier tried to jab him, but he deflected the spear and elbow bashed him, knocking him out. "They're in the trees!" said one soldier when a little boy suddenly pounced on his head and turned his helmet backwards; the soldier ran around blindly with the boy laughing on his head.

Arrows were suddenly flying around, disarming many of the soldiers; a teenage archer with a straw hat was hanging from a tree firing those arrows. Another boy jumped down and took out two soldiers, while a girl with a knife appeared and ran to fight.

The first boy looked toward Aang and Katara, who were using their bending to take out a few soldiers. Gohan pulled out his sword and charged at a soldier. The soldier blocked Gohan's strike and the two pushed against each other until Gohan skull bashed the soldier to knock him out. "Sokka's right, it _is_ good to use your head in a fight," said Gohan. He fired a ki wave that blew away three soldiers before jumping up and shooting two soldiers in the chests with energy attacks that knocked them out. Sokka readied his boomerang as a Soldier charged at him, but the soldier was quickly knocked out by the boy with hook swords.

"Hey, he was mine!" complained Sokka.

"Gotta be quicker next time," said the teen which made Sokka frown.

Two soldiers backed away in fear when a huge man suddenly appeared behind them; they held out their swords, but the man pulled out a piece of wood and used it to smash their blades, causing them to run away. Gohan and the second teen were back to back as they were surrounded by six soldiers; the two fighters looked at each other and nodded. Gohan jumped over the boy and swung his sword at the ground, causing dust to fly into three of the soldiers' faces, blinding them as Gohan knocked them out. The second boy jumped at the other three soldiers and kicked two of them away before palm striking the last one.

The lead boy smirked until he noticed a soldier behind him, the soldier attempted to impale the teen but he used his swords to halt the spear; the boy quickly knocked the soldier down and threw the spear at another soldier that Sokka was about to fight, making him fall unconscious. "Man!" complained the Tribesman.

Another Soldier tried to get the teen from behind but he blocked the spear; the two broke away and the soldier twirled his weapon, the teen stomped on the soldier's head, knocking out before running up to the Water Tribe Girl.

"Hey," the boy smoothly greeted Katara.

"Hi," Katara greeted back.

They looked around and saw that the whole camp had been defeated; all the soldiers had run away, abandoning the camp. "You just took out a whole army almost single-handed," said Aang, clearly impressed. "Army? There were only like twenty guys!" scoffed Sokka, clearly unimpressed. "You didn't take out a single guy Sokka," said Gohan. "Shut up," said Sokka. The lead boy turned to the Gang and introduced his gang and himself. "My name is Jet," said the boy before pointing to the other brown haired teen. "That's my right-hand man Pigero, and these are my Freedom Fighters," Jet gestured at each kid who moved when introduced "Sneers, Long shot, Smellerbee, Pipsqueak, and the Duke."

Sneers was eating a bowl of chow, Long shot just looked up, Smellerbee slashed her swords while holding a knife in her mouth, Pipsqueak put his wood away and the Duke held a rod. Aang approached the Duke mistaking him for Pipsqueak and said "Pipsqueak, that's a funny name," "You think my name is funny?" asked the big man who was actually Pipsqueak angrily. "It's hilarious," replied Aang. The three laughed together as Pipsqueak slapped Aang on the back and knocked him to the ground.

Gohan approached Pigero and offered his hand. "Hey, my name's Gohan. You've got some nice fighting skills," said Gohan. "Thanks, you're not so bad yourself," said Pigero as he shook Gohan's hand. "Nice headband," said Gohan. "You too," said Pigero."

A few moments later, the Freedom Fighters were searching the camp and gathering supplies. Sokka watched the kids with suspicion; Katara approached Jet who was resting against a tree chewing on some wheat. "Um, thanks for saving us jet," said Katara shyly. "We were lucky you were there." "I should be thanking you," said Jet. "We were waiting to ambush those soldiers all morning; we just needed the right distraction and then you guys stumbled in," "We were relying on instinct," said Katara as she looked at her brother and frowned. "You'll get yourself killed doing that," Jet said as Sokka walked away. Pipsqueak and the Duke were looking through some red barrels; the Duke brought out some goo and sniffed it.

"Hey Jet, these barrels are filled with blasting jelly," the Duke informed his leader.

"That's a great score," said Jet.

"And these boxes are filled with jelly candy," said Pipsqueak as he held up a big box.

"Also good," said Jet. "Let's not get those mixed up."

"We'll take this stuff back to the hideout," said the Duke as they loaded the stuff onto a cart.

"You guys have a hideout?" asked Aang.

"You wanna see it?" asked Jet.

"Yes, we wanna see it!" Katara answered excitingly.

The Gang was lead through the forest by Jet's gang until they stopped in between some trees. "We're here," said Jet. "Where? There's nothing here," said Sokka. "Hold this," instructed Jet as he handed Sokka rope. The Water Tribesman took the rope and asked "Why what's this do?" before he was suddenly yanked into the trees by the rope. "Aang?" asked Jet as he offered him a rope. "Gohan and I will get up on our own," said Aang. Everyone watched as the two boys jumped from branch to branch until they were above the leaves. "Grab hold of me Katara," said Jet as he held out his hand.

The Waterbender took Jet's hand and was suddenly pulled in close to him; the two were slowly pulled upward, Katara blushed as she clung to Jet and stared at his face. The two were finally brought to the Freedom Fighters' hideout. "Nice place you got!" complemented Aang as he sped down a zip line. The hideout had tents in trees and bridges from one tree to another.

"It's beautiful up here," said Katara.

"It's beautiful, and more importantly the Fire Nation can't find us," said Jet.

"They'd love to find you, wouldn't they Jet?" said Smellerbee as she came up.

"It's not gonna happen Smellerbee," said Jet.

"Why does the Fire Nation want to find you?" asked Katara.

"I guess you could say I've been causing them a little trouble," replied Jet. "See, they took over a nearby Earth Kingdom town a few years back,"

"We've been ambushing their troops, cutting off their supply lines and anything we can to mess with em!" explained Pipsqueak.

"One day, we'll drive the Fire Nation out of here for good, and free that town!" assured Jet.

"That's so brave," said Katara.

"Yeah, nothing's braver than a guy in a tree house," said Sokka.

"Don't pay any attention to my brother," said Katara.

"No problem, he probably had a rough day," said Jet.

"So, you all live here?" asked Katara.

"That's right," answered Jet. "Long shot over there, his town got burned down by the Fire Nation; and we found the Duke trying to steal our food, I don't think he ever really had a home. Pigero's town was wrecked by a tidal wave and right after that; the Fire Nation destroyed what was left of it."

"What about you?" asked Katara.

Jet stopped walking and looked down; his gang left him while Katara stood next to him. "The Fire Nation killed my Parents, I was only eight years old." said Jet. "That day changed me forever,"

"Sokka and I lost our mother to the Fire Nation," said Katara.

"I'm so sorry Katara," said Jet.

Night had fallen and the Gang had decided to stick with Jet's gang for the time being; Appa rested in the trees, scaring off a flock of birds. The Freedom Fighters were all gathered around Jet stood on the dinner table and he addressed the successful ambush against the Fire Nation camp. "Today, we struck another blow against the Fire Nation swine!" said Jet, making the kids cheer. "I got a special joy from the look on one soldier's face when the Duke drop down on his helmet and rode him like a wild hog monkey," everyone cheered again and the Duke a victory lap around the dinner table before jet spoke again. "Now, the Fire Nation thinks they don't have to worry about a couple of kids hiding in the trees; maybe they're right,"

All the kids booed that statement, "Or maybe, they're dead wrong!" said Jet darkly. The Freedom Fighters cheered again for their leader, Jet got off the table and went to sit by the Gang. "Hey Jet, nice speech." said Katara.

"Thanks," said Jet. "By the way, I was really impressed with you and Aang, that was some great bending I saw out there today,"

"Well he's great, He's the Avatar. I could use some more training," said Katara humbly.

"Avatar huh? Very nice," said Jet to Aang.

"Thanks, Jet." said Aang.

"And Gohan, you did some sweet fighting today, I know Pigero was impressed by it," said Jet.

"Thanks," said Gohan in between stuffing his face with food.

"You've got a big appetite," said Pigero who was sitting by him.

"You have no idea," said Gohan.

"So, what was that bending you used?" asked Pigero.

"That was Energy bending," replied Gohan.

"You're an Energybender? Didn't think any still existed," said Pigero.

"Well they do, and I'm one of them." said Gohan.

"Anyway, I might know a way Aang and Katara might be able to help in our struggle," suggested Jet.

"Unfortunately, we have to leave tonight," said Sokka as he quickly got up to leave.

"Sokka you're kidding me, I needed you on an important mission tomorrow," said Jet, clearly flattering the Tribesman. Sokka stopped walking and asked "What mission?" as he turned around. "Some of the guys and I are going on a scouting mission tomorrow and I want you to come with us," explained Jet. "We could you're unique skill, so what do you say? Wanna come?" Sokka thought about it for a moment, he looked towards his sister who was giving him a look that told him that he'd better do it. "Fine, I'll go," said Sokka. "Great, we go in the morning," said Jet.

"I'm not going with you guys," said Pigero.

"Come on Pigero, seriously?" asked Jet.

"We've had too many close calls where the Fire Nation almost found us, and it's gets harder to hide the bigger we get," said Pigero. "Smellerbee, Pipsqueak, and the newbie should be enough help,"

"Newbie?!" cried Sokka.

"Are you sure Pigero?" asked Jet.

"Yeah, I'll stay and keep an eye on things at the hideout," replied Pigero.

"Alright then," said Jet.

"Hey Pigero," said Gohan getting the boy's attention. "I was wondering if you want to spar tomorrow."

"You wanna spar with me? Are you serious?" asked Pigero.

"Yeah, I always enjoy testing my skills against fighters that I think are strong, and I want to see what you can do!" said Gohan.

"Well, I can't say I'm not interested," said Pigero. "Plus you could probably give me a real challenge,"

"So what do you say?" asked Gohan.

"Sure, how about first thing tomorrow before the guys go on their mission?" asked Pigero.

"You got it!" replied Gohan.

The next morning, all the Freedom Fighters sat around in the trees as they were about to witness Gohan and Pigero duke it out. Gohan's companions sat by Jet, everyone watched anxiously as Gohan and Pigero stood on two different branches and faced each other. "Gohan doesn't know what he's getting into," said Jet. "There's a reason Pigero is my second in command." "Don't underestimate my brother," said Aang."If there's one thing he's good at its fighting!" Pigero noticed that his opponent was unarmed and asked "What? No sword?" Gohan smiled and replied "I don't think I'll need it, this is a spar after all."

"Alright then, I'll play along." said Pigero as he removed his gauntlets. "Even without his weapons, Pigero's pretty tough," said Jet. "So is Gohan without his sword." said Sokka. The two combatants took their fighting stances and waited, they carefully watched each other until a single leaf fell through the air in front of them; they suddenly charged at each other and clashed arms. Gohan tried to punch Pigero but his fist was grabbed, Pigero attempted to kick Gohan but the Energybender jumped backwards off the branch to another; as Gohan landed on branch he stumbled a bit due to being unbalanced at first. Pigero noticed this and smirked as he charged at his opponent again.

Gohan dodged Pigero's attack by jumping to another branch; Pigero continued to attack while Gohan continued to evade by jumping to another branch. "Go Gohan!" cried the Gang. "PIGERO! PIGERO!" cheered the Freedom Fighters. Eventually, Gohan landed on a slightly frail branch, it snapped a bit causing him to stumble; Gohan struggled to balance himself and was struck in the face by a kick from Pigero. The young fighter fell off the through the trees before quickly back flipping to grab a branch and swung himself back at Pigero, kicking him back in the face.

Pigero fell off the branch and landed on another branch, Gohan jumped to another branch and the two were staring at each other. "Not bad Gohan," said Pigero. "Thanks, you're pretty good yourself," said Gohan. The two jumped above the leaves and started trading blows with each other, Gohan managed to overtake his opponent by skull bashing him in the face and nailing him with a ki blast; Pigero fell through the leaves and Gohan dove after him, but when he landed on a tree branch, Gohan was surprised to see Pigero was gone. The Energybender looked around confused until he was suddenly pounced on by Pigero; Gohan was forced onto his back as Pigero landed on top of him.

The two tussled for a while before Gohan kicked Pigero off of him onto another tree. Gohan then jumped into the air above the leaves, Pigero climbed after him; when he reached the top he looked around and saw Gohan standing on top of a tree, the leaves of another tree prevented Pigero from seeing below Gohan's waist but above that were clear as day. "What's the matter? Not eager to continue?" asked Gohan as he smirked. "In your dreams!" replied Pigero as he jumped at Gohan, the older fighter tried to punch his opponent but Gohan moved to the side to show that he was standing on air. Pigero's attack missed its target and the young man fell through the trees.

Gohan laughed as his sparring partner supposedly plummets to the ground, he suddenly stopped when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head; he turned around to see Pigero standing on top of a tree with his elbow extended. "I know this forest better than you do kid, you can't get me with a simple trick like that." said Pigero.

"You're very strong Pigero, you've got a lot of potential," said Gohan.

"Thanks, you're amazing yourself." said Pigero. The climbed back to the hideout where everyone was waiting, once they got there, Jet, Smellerbee, Pipsqueak, and Sokka left to go on their scouting mission.

Moments later, Jet and Sokka were standing on the branches of one tree while Pipsqueak and Smellerbee were hiding in another. Jet whistled like a bird to his friends and they whistled back, Sokka placed a knife into the tree and put his ear by it. "What are you doing?" asked Jet. "Shh, it amplifies vibration," explained Sokka. "Good trick," said Jet. Sokka waited for a while and said "Nothing yet. Wait yes, someone's approaching!" "How many?" asked Jet. "I think there's just one," answered Sokka. The Freedom leader whistled to his team and said to Sokka. "Good work Sokka, ready your weapon."

Sokka pulled out his knife; he looked at the trespasser and saw an elderly man with a walking stick passing through. "Wait! False alarm, he's just an old man!" Sokka alerted Jet, but the leader brought his swords and jumped down, blocking the man's path.

"What are you doing in our woods, you leech?!" Jet asked sternly.

"Please sir, I'm just a traveler," replied the old man before his cane was knocked away by Jet. The teen pointed his sword at the old man; he tried to turn and run but ended up crashing into Pipsqueak, the giant turned the man over and pinned him to the ground with his foot. Jet approached the old man and asked "Do you like destroying towns?! Do you like destroying families?! Do you?! Do you?!" as the man cowered in fear. "Please, let me go. Have mercy," begged the man. "Does the Fire Nation let people go?!Does the Fire Nation have mercy?!" Jet asked furiously. He raised his foot to kick the man but Sokka grabbed it with his war club.

"Jet, he's just an old man!" urged Sokka.

"He's Fire Nation, search him!" ordered Jet.

"But he's not hurting anyone!" argued Sokka.

"Have you forgotten that the Fire Nation killed your mother?" asked Jet. "Remember why you fight!"

"We got his stuff Jet!" Smellerbee informed her leader.

"This doesn't feel right!" argued Sokka.

"It's what has to be done," dismissed Jet. "Now let's get out of here,"

Jet, Smellerbee, and Pipsqueak walked away leaving Sokka with the old man. Sokka looked back at the old man who stared at the Tribesman. "Come on Sokka!" yelled Jet. Sokka quickly left the old traveler.

Back at the hideout, Aang laughed as he slid down the zip line and landed in front of the brooding Water Tribesman. "Sokka, look what the Duke gave me!" He pulled out a tiny firecracker and smirked, he threw by Momo causing him to shriek when it popped. The Lemur grabbed some from Aang's bag and jumped onto him before throwing them at his feet. "Ow! Quit it!" cried Aang as he danced when the firecrackers exploded at his feet. Gohan then jumped down and greeted his friend. "Hey Sokka, how was the mission?"

Before Sokka could answer, Katara came up to him and asked "Hey Sokka, is Jet back?" "Yeah he's back, but we're leaving!" said Sokka. "What?" asked Aang. "Already?" asked Gohan. "But I made him this hat," said Katara as she showed the hat for Jet. "Your boyfriend Jet's a thug!" said Sokka sternly. "What? No he's not," said Katara. "He's messed up Katara!" said Sokka. "He's not messed up," said Aang. "He's just got a different way of life, a really fun way of life," "He beat and robbed a harmless old man!" said Sokka, his sister crossed her arms in disbelief and frowned as she said "I wanna hear Jet's side of the story,"

"Sokka, you told them what happened but you didn't mention that the guy was Fire Nation?" Jet asked calmly when the Gang came to confirm Sokka's story. "No, he conveniently left that part out," replied Katara as the benders looked at Sokka. "Fine, but even if he was Fire Nation, he was a harmless civilian." argued Sokka. "He was an Assassin Sokka," said Jet, he then pulled out a knife and placed it on a stump; he twisted the knob on the hilt and pulled out a vile containing poison. "See? There's a compartment for poison in the knife, he was sent to eliminate me; you help save my life Sokka," Katara seemed to believe Jet's story but Sokka was doubtful.

"I knew there was an explanation," said Katara.

"I didn't see any knife," said Sokka.

"That's because he was concealing it," said Jet.

"See Sokka, I'm sure you just didn't see them knife," assured Katara.

"There was no knife!" stated Sokka. "I'm going back to the hut and packing my things!"

"Tell me you guys aren't leaving yet," said Jet once Sokka left. "I really need your help,"

"What can we do?" asked Aang.

"The Fire Nation is planning on burning down our forest," explained Jet. "If you guys use Waterbending to fill the reservoir we can fight the fires; but if you leave now, they'll destroy the whole valley,"

Sokka was busy getting his things together when his friends came to reason with him. "We can't leave now with the Fire Nation about to burn down a forest!" argued the Southern Waterbender. "I'm sorry Katara," apologized Sokka. "Jet's very smooth, but we can't trust him," "Maybe Sokka's right," suggested Gohan. "I can sense a lot of anger and malice from him, Pigero as well." "You know what I think? Sokka's just jealous of Jet because he's a better warrior and a better leader!" accused Katara.

"Katara I'm not jealous of Jet," said Sokka. "It's just that my instincts…"

"Well my instincts tell me we need to stay here a little longer and help Jet!" declared Katara. "Come on Aang,"

"Sorry Sokka," apologized the Monk as he followed the Waterbender.

The two left the hut, leaving Gohan alone with Sokka. "Don't worry Sokka," said the fighter, trying to comfort his friend. "After we save the forest from the Fire Nation, we can leave and you can go back to being our leader," The spiky-haired teen then exited the hut, leaving Sokka alone.

At night, the sky bison was snoring soundly as it slept on top of the trees. The Gang was fast asleep as well, until a certain "Let's go" command from Jet woke up Sokka. He looked outside the hut and saw several Freedom Fighters scaling down the hideout, the Tribesman quickly lowered himself onto a branch where he saw Jet leading his gang through the forest while pulling a cart of blasting jelly. Sokka kept himself hidden while following the Freedom Fighters to the edge of a cliff; there was a perfect view the valley and a dam that blocked off most of the water from the river. Jet stopped at the cliff and looked towards the dam before addressing his gang.

"Now listen, you're not to blow the dam til I give the signal," Jet told Long shot. "If the reservoir isn't full, the Fire Nation Troops could survive,"

"But what about the people in the town?" asked the Duke. "Won't they get wiped out too?"

"Look Duke, that's the price of ridding this area of the Fire Nation," replied Jet as he put his hand on Duke's shoulder; he then turned to Long Shot and said, "Now don't blow the dam until I give the signal, got it?" The Archer nodded.

Sokka's face held shock at what he just heard, there was some rustling in the bushes before Sokka was suddenly yanked by his ponytail, curtsey of Pipsqueak. "Where do you think you're going ponytail?" asked Smellerbee as she held a knife at Sokka's throat.

Moments later, Sokka was brought to Jet and Pigero at the edge of the cliff by Pipsqueak and Smellerbee. "Sokka, I'm glad you decided to join us," said Jet as Sokka was thrown at his feet.

"I heard your plan to destroy the Earth Kingdom town," confessed Sokka.

"Our plan is to rid the Valley of the Fire Nation," explained Jet.

"There are people living there Jet, Mothers, and Fathers, and children!" argued Sokka.

"We can't win a war without making some sacrifices," said Pigero

"You lied to the others about the forest fire!" accused Sokka.

"Cause they don't understand the demands of war," said Jet. "Not like you and I do,"

"I do understand, I understand that there's nothing you won't do to get what you want," said Sokka.

"I was hoping you'd have an open mind, but I can see you've made your choice," said a disappointed Jet. Pipsqueak and Smellerbee advanced on Sokka while Jet grabbed his wrist with his swords. "I can't let you warn Katara and Aang," said Jet before he addressed his followers "Take him for a walk, a long walk!" "You can't do this!" said Sokka as he struggled. "Cheer up Sokka, we're gonna win a great victory against the Fire Nation today!" said Jet. Suddenly a ki blast was fired at the ground in between Jet, Pigero, Pipsqueak, Smellerbee, and Sokka. The explosion knocked Jet and Pigero off the cliff, but Pigero quickly grabbed onto the cliff before grabbing Jet's hand.

Gohan soon jumped in front of the Freedom Fighters restraining his friend; he placed his hands forward and unleashed a gale force attack that pushed the two to the edge of the cliff. "Gohan?" asked Sokka. The Energybender grabbed Sokka's wrist and said "Come on, let's go!" The two ran into the forest at Jet and Pigero were pulled onto the cliff. "After them! Don't let them warn Katara and Aang!" ordered Jet. The three Freedom Fighters chased after the two travelers; Gohan and Sokka quickly hid behind some bushes to avoid their pursuers. "How did you know?" asked Sokka.

Gohan peeked through the bushes as he answered "I saw several Freedom Fighters sneaking out at night with a cart of blasting jelly; then I saw Pipsqueak and Smellerbee dragging you through the woods and followed them,"

"So you know Jet's plan?" asked Sokka.

"You mean to wipe out the town with the Fire Nation by flooding it? Yeah I know," said Gohan.

The young fighter quickly hid himself when he saw the Freedom Fighters coming; Pigero, Pipsqueak, and Smellerbee wandered around as they searched for the boys. "There's no point in hiding!" said Pigero. "You can't stop us, so just come out and we'll go easy on you guys!" The Freedom Fighters passed the bush the boys were hiding behind while still looking around.

"They won't go until they find us," said Sokka.

"Then I'll just have to lead them away so that you can stop Jet's plan," said Gohan.

"What?" asked Sokka.

"I'll reveal myself and get them to chase me while you escape and stop the Freedom Fighters from destroying the town." explained Gohan.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," said Sokka.

"Sokka, what do your instincts tell you?" asked Gohan.

Sokka thought for a moment before nodding his head in agreement, Gohan smiled as he gripped his sword and prepared to play the decoy; he looked back at Sokka one more time before saying "Sokka, trust your instincts," the spiky-haired teen then ran out the bushes right in front of the three Freedom Fighters. "There's Gohan!" cried Smellerbee. The Energybender swung his sword at them, creating another air current slash that blinded the three pursuing teens. When their vision returned, they saw the son of Goku scaling a tree and jumping away on branches.

Pipsqueak and Smellerbee were about to chase after the boy but Pigero placed his hand out to stop them. "Keep looking for Sokka, I'll handle this one!" said Pigero as he brought out his wrist blades, the two Freedom Fighters nodded as Pigero climbed up the tree and followed Gohan. The two fighters jumped through the trees, Gohan looked back and was surprised to see Pigero gaining on him. _"He's faster than I thought,"_ thought Gohan. The young fighter eventually stopped fleeing and turned to face Pigero. The Freedom Fighter stood on branch as he and Gohan stared each other down _. "I don't see Pipsqueak or Smellerbee, they must be looking for Sokka,"_ thought Gohan. _"I have to help him!"_

"If you're thinking about going to help your friend then forget about it," said Pigero, "I'm not going to let you get past me!"

"It doesn't have to be this way Pigero, we don't have to do this!" argued Gohan.

"Yes we do; if you're not with us Gohan than you're against us!" replied Pigero.

"Why are you doing this?! What do you get out of sacrificing an entire town just to kill a small part of the Fire Nation?!" asked Gohan.

"It's not for my sake; it's for the sake of the people living there so that they don't die slowly due to this war like my people did!" said Pigero.

"What do you mean?!" asked Gohan.

"My town was struck by a tidal wave; the survivors tried their best to salvage whatever food they could find. After a while it seemed that we would survive the war, but then the Fire Nation attacked our village! They destroyed everywhere with fire, and in all that destruction I learned the truth, my village would never survived the war; the death by fire actually saved my people from dying slowly and painfully due to starvation and solitude." explained Pigero as he closed his eyes and clenched his fists. "All my friends and families were spared the pain of living in through this war, and I was lucky enough to survive so that I can make sure that this town doesn't suffer the fate I almost suffered by helping Jet complete his plan!"

"You can't be serious! It's not too late to stop this madness, we don't have to fight?!" urged Gohan.

"In times of war, there are no sides, no allies, no friends and no enemies," replied Pigero as he took a stance. "There is only kill or be killed, the strong survive and the weak must die!"

"I guess I have no choice but to fight you," said Gohan as he pulled out his sword and took a stance.

"Prepare yourself Gohan, cause this time I won't hold back!" warned Pigero.

"Well I won't either!" said Gohan.

The two fighters glared at each other before they charged, Gohan raised his sword and brought down with all his might; Pigero held up his blades and crossed them, the sword collided with the blades and the two pushed against each other.

Elsewhere, Jet was directing Katara and Aang towards the reservoir. "Jet, I'm sorry about how Sokka's been acting," said Katara.

"No worries, he already apologized," Jet lied.

"Really? Sokka apologized?" asked Aang.

"Yeah, I was surprised too," said Jet. "I got the sense that maybe you talked to him or something,"

"Yeah I did," admitted Katara.

"I guess something you said got through to him; anyhow, he and Gohan went out on a scouting mission with Pigero, Pipsqueak, and Smellerbee," Jet lied again.

"I'm glad he cooled off, he can be stubborn sometimes," said Katara.l

Aang was suddenly launched into the air by a steam of water from the ground. "Alright, we're here," said Jet. There were geysers all around the three teens, the river was flowing smoothly beside them as more streams shot out of the ground.

"Underground water is trying to escape from these vents, I need you guys to help it along," explained Jet.

"I've never used bending on water I can't see," said Katara, feeling doubtful of her abilities. "I don't know,"

"Katara, you can do this," said Jet encouragingly as he placed his hand on the Waterbender's shoulders.

"What about me?" asked Aang.

"I know the Avatar can do this," said Jet.

The two Waterbenders stood by one of the vents and moved their hands up and down in sync. The water slowly rose from underground to the surface; the water eventually shot out of the ground and the two benders directed it towards the river.

"Yes, good job!" cheered Jet. "This river empties into the reservoir, a few more geysers and it will be full,"

"Look, there's another steam vent!" said Aang.

"Ok, you two keep it up, I'll go check on things at the reservoir," said Jet as he started to leave.

"When we're done we'll meet you over there," said Katara making Jet frown.

"Actually, probably better if you meet back at the hideout when you're done." suggested Jet as he left, the two didn't argue and went back to bending water out of the geysers. After some time, Aang and Katara had just finished bending more water into the river when Aang finally said "I bet that's enough, and I'm not just saying that to be lazy," There were rows of water shooting out of the geysers flowing into the river. "Let's catch up with Jet at the reservoir," suggested Katara. "I thought we agreed to meet Jet back at the hideout?" questioned the Avatar. "Well, we finished early, I'm sure he'll be happy to see us," said the Waterbender confidently.

Meanwhile, Pipsqueak and Smellerbee had somehow managed to find and recapture Sokka, and were now walking him through the forest with his hands tied behind his back. "Come on, move along!" ordered Smellerbee as she pushed Sokka. "How can you stand by and do nothing while Jet wipes out a whole town?" asked Sokka. "Hey listen Sokka, Jet's a great leader! We follow what he says, and things always turn out ok!" argued Pipsqueak. As the three walked, Sokka noticed two stacks of litchi nuts on top of some leaves and got an idea. "If that's how Jet leads, then he's got a lot to learn!" said Sokka as he dashed towards the litchi nuts.

"Hey!" cried Smellerbee as she and Pipsqueak chased after him; Sokka jumped over the nuts, the two Freedom Fighters ran over them and were caught in the Fire Nation traps. "While you two are up there you might wanna practice your knot work," suggested Sokka as he showed his untied hands before leaving the two in the trees. "Hey Smellerbee, you gonna eat your litchi nuts?" Pipsqueak asked his friend, she answered by tossing hers at him, which he picked up eagerly.

Back with Gohan, the young fighter was still battling against Pigero; the two jumped from branch to branch as the clashed. Gohan fired multiple ki blasts at his opponent, but Pigero was swift, he managed to avoid all of them with ease. Gohan growled as he lost track of Pigero's movements in the trees, he looked around but saw no sign of him. _"Where is he?"_ Gohan asked himself, his question was suddenly answered when he looked up and saw Pigero descending on him; acting quickly, Gohan turned his sword horizontally to block Pigero's blades.

The pressure of the two warriors caused the branch they were on to snap; as they fell through the trees Gohan reversed the struggle by throwing Pigero downward and swinging his sword at him, the Freedom Fighter brought up his blades and blocked Gohan's attack. They landed in another tree and Gohan backed away from Pigero.

"How can you just help Jet wipe out those innocent people?!" asked Gohan. "How can you sacrifice them just to take out the Fire Nation?!"

"I told you, I'm sparing them the pain of living under the Fire Nation tyranny before they eventually die in the future!" argued Pigero.

"You're supposed to be protecting the innocent, not killing them as well!" said Gohan. "What's the point of fighting to freedom if you're going to kill everyone?!"

"The point is that once the Fire Nation takes a place, its fate is to be destroyed, either by the Fire Nation or by something else!" answered Pigero. "The moment the Fire Nation took over that town, it might only death could save it!"

When Gohan heard Pigero's answer he dropped his head and lowered his blade, Pigero took notice of this and charged at his foe; when Pigero got close, he thrust one of his blades at Gohan's head; the son of Goku suddenly glared up and swung his sword upward, snapping one of Pigero's wrist blades. The Freedom Fighter stared in shock as his broken blade flew through the air, allowing Gohan to palm strike him in the chest and knock him into another tree, Pigero slowly stood up and looked at the Energybender.

"If that's how you feel, then there's no point in trying to talk you out of it," said Gohan. "I'm done with words!"

"Oh, so what are you going to do?" asked Pigero.

"I will stop you!" said Gohan as he tossed up his sword, placed his hands over his head; he channeled energy into his palms and shouted **"MASENKOHA!"** as he fired a gold ki blast at Pigero. The Freedom Fighter quickly jumped away, allowing the blast to nail the tree and leave a large hole in it.

Gohan moved his head back and forth as he tried to keep track of Pigero's movements, but the Freedom Fighter dashed to and fro through the trees with greet speed. Gohan jumped up and grabbed his weapon as he prepared to resume fighting. The spiky haired teen patiently waited for his opponent to reveal himself when he was suddenly struck from behind; the attacker knocked Gohan off his branch, causing to fall onto another one. Gohan quickly got up and readied himself, Pigero struck again, hitting Gohan at the side. The Freedom Fighter continuously attacked Gohan, dashing at him incredibly fast; Gohan put away his sword and stood completely still, his opponent suddenly charged at him but Gohan managed to dodge him.

Gohan charged at Pigero and punched his face, the older teen quickly recovered and the two were locked in combat. Every blade strike from Pigero was dodged by Gohan and countered with his own attack; eventually the young fighter got the best of Pigero by kicking him to another branch. Gohan started firing more energy attacks at his enemy but Pigero started dodging as he jumped from tree to tree. _"This going nowhere, and I'm exhausting my ki."_ thought Gohan. _"How am I ever going to beat him if I can't track his movements?!"_

Pigero suddenly jumped at Gohan and thrust his blade forward, but Gohan quickly caught the blade in between his hands, inches away from his face. The son of Goku then skull bashed Pigero, forcing him to recoil before fleeing to hide again. Gohan then got an idea and stood up straight as he said "Come on Pigero, let's end this already!" The Freedom Fighter rushed at his foe with his leg ready, Gohan made no attempt to dodge or block the blow to his face; the younger teen was kicked off the trees, he fell through the trees, painfully bouncing from branches before he crashed landed on the ground. Gohan struggled to get up when Pigero stomped on his right leg, breaking it in the process.

"ARRGH!" cried Gohan as he instinctively kicked Pigero away, The Freedom Fighter watched as Gohan limped away until he slumped against a tree, Pigero then pulled out a knife from his back and threw it at the Energybender; the blade impaled Gohan's left shoulder, the boy grit his teeth as he grabbed the knife and forcefully pulled it out of his shoulder. He glanced at the knife when he saw a light red liquid dripping from his shoulder.

"Isn't this the poison knife?" asked Gohan.

"That's right, which means you won't be using that arm for some time," said Pigero as he slowly approached his victim.

The Energybender grasped his shoulder as he slowly arose to his feet, his vision became blurry as he coughed up blood; he glared at Pigero who returned the look with his own angry one. "You still refuse to give up?" asked Pigero furiously, Gohan didn't reply as he clenched his fist and stood his ground, Pigero grew annoyed and charged at the spiky haired teen with his blade drawn. At the last second, Gohan grabbed Pigero's wrist blade before it could impale him; the blade scraped against Gohan's right hand, cutting it as he held it tightly while blood dripped from his palm. "Now you can use any of your limbs," said Pigero. "You've lost this fight!"

"That's what you think, but it's you who's lost, cause now I've got you right where I want you!" said Gohan, he closed his eyes and channeled his ki throughout his body. **"KA…ME…HA…ME…"** chanted Gohan, Pigero tried to back away but Gohan still held onto his wrist blade. "Nice bluff, I know you need your arms to fire those energy attacks," said Pigero. Gohan suddenly kicked Pigero upward and shouted **"HAA!"** as he opened his mouth wide and a blue sphere of ki appeared in it. The Kamehameha beam shot out of Gohan's mouth and hit Pigero at point-blank range, blasting him into a tree. Pigero's body fell to the floor, smoking from Gohan's attack. The Freedom Fighter attempted to get up but passed out rather quickly.

Gohan started breathing heavily as he grasped his shoulder; he glanced at then defeated Pigero and sighed when he saw that he was still breathing. _"Good, he's still alive,"_ thought Gohan, he then pulled out his sword and stabbed his wounded shoulder; Gohan winced as he his blood that was mixed with poison spilled onto the ground. When the poison was cleared Gohan focused ki into his hand and tapped his shoulder with it, the energy swarmed around the shoulder and stopped his bleeding. "Ok, now I have to…find…Sokka," Gohan said before he slowly fell unconscious.

Speak of the Water Tribesman; he came running through forest when he saw the unconscious bodies of Gohan and Pigero; without a second thought he picked up his friend and carried him away.

At the reservoir, Aang and Katara were standing at the edge of the cliff when they saw some Freedom Fighters unloading blasting jelly from a cart by the dam. "What are they doing?" asked Katara.

"Hey, those are the red barrels they got from the Fire Nation," Aang pointed out.

"Why would they need blasting jelly?" asked Katara.

"Because Jet's going blow up the dam!" said Aang with wide eyes.

"What?! No, that would destroy the town; Jet wouldn't do that!" argued Katara.

"I've gotta stop em!" Aang said as he opened his glider.

"Jet wouldn't do that," Katara said again.

Aang ran towards the edge of the cliff to take off, but Jet suddenly dashed past him and swiped his glider; the monk almost fell off the cliff but managed to save himself with his airbending.

"Yes I would," said Jet.

"Jet, why?" asked Katara.

"Katara, you would too if you'd just stop to think," said Jet. "Think about what the Fire Nation did to your mother, we can't let them do that to anyone else ever again!"

"This isn't the answer," argued Katara.

"I want you to understand me, Katara." said Jet as he approached the Waterbender. "I thought your brother would understand, but…"

"Where's Sokka?!" asked Katara as she started to cry; The Freedom leader touched the girl's face, but it only seemed to anger her, she struck Jet in the chest with a the water from her pouch, knocking him onto his back. "I need to get to the dam," said Aang, he ran to pick up his staff but Jet quickly got up and grabbed it with his swords. "You're not going anywhere without your glider!" said Jet, he swung his swords at the Avatar; using his airbending, Aang avoided the attacks and jump into a tree. "I'm not gonna fight you Jet!" said Aang.

"You'll have to if you want your glider back!" said Jet as he climbed the tree after Aang, the Airbender jumped through the trees while Katara watched from the ground. As Aang was running on a tree branch, Jet suddenly swung by and tried to slash at the monk, he quickly ducked as Jet landed on the branch. Aang shot an air blast at Jet, he moved to the side and swung under the branch; he tried to kick Aang but it was blocked by his airbending. Jet swung at Aang again and the Airbender air kicked him away; The Freedom leader swung his blades wildly and Aang countered with another air blast, Jet managed to withstand the blast and rushed at Aang.

Aang jumped up the tree to escape his opponent, and Jet quickly climbed after him. Aang jumped above the trees with Jet right on his tail. The Avatar moved down the tree with the Freedom Fighter trying to attack him; eventually Jet managed to grab Aang with his swords and pull him downward, as they fell, Jet tried to strike Aang but his agility allowed to evade easily. The Bender and Non Bender landed on another branch; Jet swung his swords repeatedly at Aang who used his swift movements to dodge the slashes.

Aang then crawled under the branch to get behind Jet, when he came back up, Jet charged at him but was blown away by strong air current from Aang; he tried to use his swords to hold onto the tree, but the wind was too strong and he was blasted out of the trees; He quickly grabbed onto another tree with his swords but Aang's glider fell out of his grasp. Aang jumped after his staff and Jet jumped after him; the two fell towards the ground with Jet gaining on Aang, the Freedom Fighter then swung on a branch and knocked Aang into a tree.

The Avatar crash landed onto the ground while Jet landed on his feet; Aang weakly got up as Jet was about to attack, he was suddenly struck with a raging wave from Katara. The Waterbender pulled out more water from the river and attacked Jet with it, the Freedom Fighter was backed into a tree before blew cold air at the water, freezing the water on Jet whole body aside from his neck and above.

"Why, Jet? I can't believe I trusted you," said Katara. "You lied to me, you're sick and I trusted you!"

The three suddenly heard a bird-like whistle coming from the dam, being the only one who knew what it meant, Jet whistled back, giving the signal to blow the dam.

"What are you doing?" asked Katara.

"You're too late!" said Jet.

"No!" cried Katara. Aang tried to fly off to the dam, but his glider was wrecked from when Jet snatched it from him, causing him to crash back onto the ground. Katara rushed to Aang's side as he said "Sokka and Gohan are still out there; they're our only chance," "Come on Sokka, I'm sorry I ever doubted you, please!" pleaded Katara. Long shot stood in a tree with a flaming arrow ready, he released the arrow and it sailed towards the dam. "No," said Katara when she saw the arrow, the moment it collided with the dam, the blasting jelly exploded and the dam burst open.

Aang and Katara watched as a giant wave of water rushed through the dam and headed towards the town; in a matter of seconds, the water flooded the whole earth town, wiping it out completely. Destroyed homes, supplies, and a little girl's doll drifted through the water that used to be the town.

"They didn't make it in time," said Aang sadly.

"All those people," mourned Katara before turning to Jet furious. "Jet, you monster!"

"This was a victory Katara, remember that." said Jet. "The Fire Nation is gone and this valley will be safe!"

"It will be safe, without you!" said Sokka, surprising everyone as he showed on Appa along with Icarus, Gohan, and Momo.

"Sokka!" cried Katara.

"I warned the villagers of your plan, just in time," explained Sokka.

"What?!" asked Jet.

"At first they didn't believe me; the Fire Nation soldiers assumed I was a spy, but one man vouched for me, the old man you attacked." Sokka continued to explain. "He urged them to trust me and we got everyone out in time,"

As Sokka spoke, the villagers were safely watching the water the destroyed their town; a little went to the water and picked up her lost doll. "Mrs. Pretty!" she squeaked as she hugged it.

"Sokka, you fool! We could've freed this valley!" argued Jet. Aang jumped onto Appa's saddle and landed next to his brother, who had a bandage over his left shoulder, his right palm and his right leg. "Who would be free?" asked Sokka. "Everyone would be dead!" "You traitor!" said Jet spitefully. "No Jet, you became the traitor when you stopped protecting innocent people," corrected Sokka. "Katara, please, help me." Jet pleaded to the Waterbender. "Goodbye Jet," said Katara as she climbed onto Appa. "Yip, yip!" commanded Sokka as he whipped the reins; Appa flew off into the sky leaving the Freedom leader behind.

"You look terrible, what happened to you?" Aang asked Gohan.

"I had a little trouble trying to help Sokka, but I'm fine, see Ahh!" groaned Gohan as he touched his shoulder. "The villagers patched me up."

"We thought you guys were going to the dam," said Aang. "How come you went to the town instead?"

"Let em guess, you're instincts told you," said Katara.

"A warrior should follow his allows instincts," said Gohan.

"Hey, sometimes they're right," said Sokka.

"Um, Sokka, you know we're going the wrong way right?" asked Aang as he, Katara, and Gohan shared a smile.

"And sometimes they're wrong," said Sokka as he turned Appa around.

 **A/N: There, finished. Onto the next chapter and a big thank you to one of my guest reviewers! Whoever you are, you guessed one of my non canon pairings-GohanxTy Lee. You're all free to guess the right but this guy is the one thinking like me. Until next time, TTFN AntiHero out!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Ok, before you read, you should know that I skipped the Great Divide episode. Someone told me that it kinda was a pointless episode, and frankly I was planning on cutting Gohan out of the adventure in that one. Thinking back on that, I saw that it was a bit pointless; I mean, the only value that episode had was that Aang could bring peace by lying. Anyway, moving on to the Storm and a little backstory surprise in store.**

 **Disclaimer- I own nothing**

 **Chapter 11**

It was nighttime and everyone was fast asleep. The Avatar was having a nice dream of flying through the clouds on his trusty bison. He looked to his left to see Sokka flying with his glider, and Gohan riding on Icarus; the two smiled at him with joy and he returned their smiles. Katara appeared on his right, riding on a giant Momo; she waved at the Airbender as the seven soared in happiness.

" _We need you Aang,"_ said Katara.

" _I need you too,"_ said Aang.

Aang then noticed a giant storm cloud in their path. _"Be careful, guys! Guys?"_ said Aang, but when he looked around, he saw all his friends were gone and that he was riding on Appa alone. As they flew towards the storm cloud, Aang's airbending master descended in front of him. _"Gyatso?"_ asked Aang. _"Why did you disappear?"_ Gyatso asked his pupil.

" _I didn't mean to,"_ replied Aang sadly. He tried to touch his late guardian, but he quickly faded away. The Avatar and the Sky Bison flew straight into the storm cloud as they heard Gyatso's voice say, _"We need you Aang."_ Aang screamed in terror as the stormed started pouring violently on him and Appa; the storm eventually hurled the two into the sea. Aang let go of the reins and fell unconscious as he sank deeper underwater, voices of his loved continued to speak as he drowned. _"We need you Aang, we need you. We need you Aang, we need you."_

An image of the Fire Lord appeared and Aang woke up. His sudden awakening startled Momo who crawled onto Gohan, then Katara, and then Sokka, waking up all three in the process. Sokka brought out his weapons instinctively.

"What's going on? Did we get captured again?" Sokka asked sleepily.

"It's nothing; I just had a bad dream. Go back to sleep," said Aang.

"Don't have to tell me twice," said Sokka as he lay back down.

Concerned for their friend, Katara and Gohan turned to talk to him. "Are you alright, Aang?" asked Katara.

"I'm ok," Aang lied.

"You seem to be having a lot of nightmares lately," said Katara. "You wanna tell me about it?"

"I think I just need some rest," said Aang.

"Bro, there's clearly something bothering you," urged Gohan, but Aang refused to say more. "Well, if you ever wanna talk about it, we're here for you."

"You guys wanna hear about my dream?!" asked Sokka cheerfully. When no one answered him, his mood went down and he said, "That's ok, I didn't wanna talk about it anyway."

The next morning, the Gang was cleaning up their campsite. The waves splashed against the shore and the sky shined beautifully. Appa yawned as Aang sat on his head. "Look at those clear skies, buddy. Should be some smooth flying," said Aang as he saw a flock of birds flying.

Katara checked their bag for food, only for crumbs to drop out of it. "Well, we better smoothly fly ourselves to a market, cause we're out of food." said the Waterbender as she climbed Appa's tail.

"Guys, wait! This was in my dream, we shouldn't go to the market," warned Sokka.

"What happened in your dream?" asked Katara.

"Food eats people!" Sokka said weirdly, making his friends frown at him. "Also, Momo could talk. You said some very unkind things,"

"You're crazy," said Gohan. "And besides, talking food isn't enough to stop me from eating!"

"Fine, but it's your funeral," said Sokka.

Elsewhere, a certain Fire Navy Ship was sailing through the seas. Prince Zuko was looking at the skies through a telescope while Iroh was sniffing the air. "There is a storm coming," Iroh alerted his nephew. "A big one."

"You're out of your mind, uncle!" argued Zuko. "The weather's perfect, there's not a cloud in sight!"

"A storm is approaching from the north," said Iroh. "I suggest we alter our course and head southwest."

"We know the Avatar's traveling northward, so we will do the same," said Zuko.

"Prince Zuko, consider the safety of the crew," advised the old General.

"The safety of the crew doesn't matter!" said Zuko. One of his soldiers then came on the deck and looked at the royals; the soldier raised an eyebrow and Zuko glared at him. "Finding the Avatar is far more important than any individual's safety," said Zuko to the soldier's face before walking away. The Fire soldier glared at the Fire Prince as he entered the ship. "He doesn't mean that, he's just all worked up," Iroh assured the soldier.

At the Market, Appa was parked at the docks while the Gang was shopping for food. Katara was thoroughly inspecting a melon while the old lady merchant was growing annoyed, trying to get her to buy it.

"Ah it's good. It's perfect, I'm telling you!" urged the old lady.

Katara shook the melon and it made a swish sound. "I don't know if I like the sound of that swishing," said Katara.

"Swishing means it's ripe!" explained the lady as she walked around the table to stand in front of Katara. "It's the ripe juices swishing around!"

"I think that's true, Katara, swishing means it's ripe," agreed Aang.

"Whatever, can we just buy so I can eat it?" complained Gohan. "I'm hungry."

"I just realized, we're out of money anyway," said Katara sweetly.

The old woman groaned as she snatched a basket of food from Sokka and kicked him in the rear as he walked past her. "Out of food and out of money," complained Sokka as he massaged his bottom. "Now what are we supposed to do?"

"You could get a job, smart guy," suggested Katara.

An old couple walked by them; the husband was planning on going fishing while his wife argued against it. "We shouldn't go out there! Please, the fish can wait; there's going to be a terrible storm!" pleaded the wife. This news seemed to upset the Avatar. "Ah you're crazy, it's a nice day! No clouds, no winds, no nothing, so quit your nagging, woman!" argued the old man. "Maybe we should find some shelter," suggested Aang. "Are you kidding?" asked Sokka. "Shelter from what?"

"Are you ok, Aang?" asked Gohan.

"My joints say there's going to be a storm, a bad one!" the wife warned her husband.

"Well, it's your joints against my brain," argued the fisherman.

"Then I hope your brain can find someone else to haul that fish, 'cause I ain't coming!" said the woman.

"Then I'll find a new hauler and pay 'em double of what you get," assured the fisherman. "How do you like that?!"

"I'll go!"Sokka volunteered.

"You're hired!" said the Fisherman.

Sokka's friends looked at him with concern while the fisherman smirked at his wife. "What?" asked Sokka when he saw their faces. "You said get a job, and he's paying double!"

"Double? Who told you that nonsense?" asked the fisherman.

Back on Zuko's ship, everyone got a clear sight of the storm clouds Iroh warned about approaching from the north. The Ship sailed toward the dark clouds while the crew was on deck. As Zuko and Trunks came onto the deck, the Fire soldier from earlier addressed the son of Ozai. "Huh, looks like your uncle was right about the storm after all."

"Lucky guess," said Iroh.

"Lieutenant! You'd better learn some respect or I'll teach it to you," Zuko warned the soldier as he got in his face. The Fire Prince walked away, but the soldier decided to press on. "What do you know about respect?" he asked, making Zuko stop; Iroh tried to signal the soldier to stop egging Zuko on, but he didn't listen. "The way you talk to everyone around here, from your hard working crew to your esteemed uncle, shows you know nothing about respect!" Zuko's face grew angrier as the Lieutenant continued to speak. "You don't care about anyone but yourself; then again, what should I expect from a spoiled prince?"

His patience at an end, Zuko took a Firebending stance and Lieutenant took the same stance. "Easy now," said Iroh. The two Firebenders ignored him and approached each other; their wrists clashed and they pushed at each other. Before it could go any further, a sword was drawn in between their faces by Trunks.

"We're not supposed to be fighting amongst ourselves; we're all a part of this crew," said Trunks "That means we're all supposed to respect each other. We're here for one reason, to capture the Avatar and return to the Fire Nation with him. So let's all just get along and not do something we'll regret."

The two Firebenders broke away as Trunks put his sword away; they were still glaring at each other when General Iroh came to ease the tension.

"Ok, ok, we're all a bit tired from being at sea so long. I'm sure after a bowl of noodles, everyone will feel much better," said Iroh

The Lieutenant walked away while Zuko just turned around. "I don't need your or anyone's help keeping order on my ship!" said Zuko to his Uncle. Iroh put his hand on his nephew's shoulder, but Zuko shrugged him off and walked away. Trunks went up to his fellow Prince and said, "Lieutenant's right you know, you do need to start showing more respect towards your crew. They're here to assist us and they've sacrificed a lot to help us regain our honor." before leaving Zuko alone.

Back at the market, Sokka was helping the Fisherman who hired him load his supplies into his boat. The dark clouds managed to spread toward the market, which made Aang a little worried. "Sokka, maybe this isn't such a good idea; look at the sky," said Aang.

"I said I was going to do this job, I can't back out because of some bad weather," argued Sokka as he brought more stuff into the boat.

"What's wrong Aang?" Gohan inquired when he noticed Aang's worried face. Aang stared at the sky as he replied, "I just don't like the way the clouds look."

"The boy with the tattoos has some sense," said the old wife to the Fisherman. "You should listen to him!"

The Fisherman stopped loading things into his boat and looked at Aang. "Boy with tattoos? Airbender tattoos." He then approached Aang with a hard look on his face, which made Aang a little nervous. "Well I'll be a hog monkey's uncle, you're the Avatar, ain't cha?"

"That's right," confirmed Katara as she and Aang smiled.

"Well don't be so smiley about it," said the Fisherman, making the teens frown. "The Avatar disappeared for a hundred years; you turned your back on the world!" The Fisherman jabbed his finger at the young monk as he spoke.

"Don't yell at him; Aang would never turn his back on anyone!" said Katara defensively.

"Oh, he wouldn't huh, then I guess I must've imagined the last hundred years of war and suffering," said the fisherman. His words seem to make Aang feel guilty.

"Aang is the bravest person I know! He's done nothing but help people and save lives since I met him," argued Katara. She was so focused on arguing with the fisherman that she didn't notice Aang slowly backing away in shame. "It's not his fault he disappeared, right Aang?" When there was no reply, she turned around to see Aang's sad look. "Aang, what's wrong?" Instead of answering, the Airbender opened his glider and flew away.

"Aang, wait up!" cried Gohan. He quickly hopped on Icarus and said, "Let's go, Icarus!" before his dragon took off after the Avatar.

"That's right, keep flying!" the fisherman yelled to Aang.

"You're a horrible old man!" said the Waterbender before she climbed onto the sky bison. "Appa, Yip-yip!" ordered Katara. The bison ascended toward the sky; his ascension caused water to splash onto the fisherman.

"Hey, they left without saying goodbye," complained Sokka when he came up and saw that his friends were gone.

"Your friends ain't too polite, are they," said the fisherman.

"I know, this one time I was—" said Sokka before he was interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, get below deck," ordered the fisherman as he handed Sokka a big crate.

Gohan and Katara flew through the rain as they searched for Aang; the two looked around until they noticed a small cave in the mountains. They entered the cave and saw Aang sitting in the dark, looking in sadness. "Are you ok, Aang?" asked Gohan.

"I'm alright," replied Aang. "I'm sorry I ran away like that."

"It's ok, that fisherman was way out of line," said Katara.

"Actually, he wasn't," said Aang.

"What do you mean?" asked Katara.

"I don't wanna talk about it," said Aang

"It has to do with your dream, doesn't it?" asked Katara. "Talk to us."

"You can't keep this in anymore, bro, you have to talk about it if you want to get over it," said Gohan.

"You already know about this, Gohan, but Katara and Sokka don't, and it's kind of a long story," said Aang. Momo jumped onto his lap and Appa nudged against Aang's head as he moaned.

"I think we've got time," said Gohan as Icarus sat beside him.

"I'm gonna try to get a little fire going," said Katara as she walked off.

Moments later, Katara was poking at a small campfire with a stick, Appa was resting at the side, Gohan and Aang sat next to each other and Momo sat in Aang's lap. "I'll never forget the day the monks told us I was the Avatar," recalled Aang. "I was playing with some other kids just outside the south wall; I was trying to teach them how to do the Air Scooter."

 _Flashback- Many young Airbenders were at the Southern Air Temple, some of them were playing amongst themselves while others were circled around Aang. Gohan was sitting behind his brother as he demonstrated the Air Scooter._

" _First you form a ball, then you gotta get on quick!" instructed Aang as he created an air ball before jumping onto it and balancing on one leg. He then zoomed around the temple on the air scooter, cheering and laughing. One of the spectators tried to copy Aang's technique by creating his own air ball._

" _Ok, here goes!" said the Airbender as he made his own scooter._

" _Quick, get on!" said Aang._

 _The boy jumped onto the scooter but landed on his butt; he started spinning rapidly on the scooter before falling off. Aang got off his own scooter and said, "You kinda have to balance on it like it's a top."_

" _Man, that's hard!" said the boy. "Not even Gohan could do something like that!"_

" _Wanna bet?!" asked the Energybender. "Aang, hit me!"_

 _Aang created another air sphere and tossed it toward his brother. Gohan got on and balanced on one leg; he then rode on the scooter just as Aang did earlier on. The spiky haired teen then got off and told the Airbenders, "It's not as easy as it looks, you have to really practice if you wanna get it."_

 _One of the Airbenders in training came up to Aang and asked, "Where'd you learn that trick, Aang?"_

" _I made it up," replied Aang._

" _Wow!" said the boy, clearly amazed._

" _Aang, come with us," said Monk Gyatso. He stood with four other Monks on the stairs. "We need to speak with you." Aang looked a bit nervous as he approached the Monks. Before they left, Gyatso turned to the Energybender and said, "You may come too, Gohan." Gohan nodded as he followed the Monks. The two boys were soon sitting in another room with the five monks facing them. The head monk sat in the middle under an umbrella with two monks at his left and right sides each._

" _How do you know it's me?" asked Aang._

" _We have known you were the Avatar for some time," answered one of the monks. "Do you remember these?" He then pulled out a rolled up sheet. The monk blew it toward the boys where it rolled open and revealed four different toys. One was shaped like a hog monkey, one was a paddle with the air symbol on it, another had a propeller and a string attached to it, and the last one resembled a turtle._

" _Those were some of my favorite toys when I was little," said Aang as he recognized the toys._

" _You chose them from among thousands of toys, Aang; the toys you picked were the four Avatar relics. These items belonged to Avatars' past, your own past lives," explained the monk._

" _I just chose them because they seem fun," said Aang as he picked up the toy with the propeller and pulled on the string. The propeller flew through the air, which made Aang smile._

" _You chose them because they were familiar," corrected the monk._

" _Normally, we would've told you of your identity when you turned sixteen," explained Gyatso. "But there are troubling signs, storm clouds are gathering."_

" _I fear that war may be upon us, young Avatar," said the Head Monk._

" _We need you, Aang," said Gyatso._

" _What about me?" asked Gohan. "I'm sure you didn't call me here just to tell me that Aang's the Avatar."_

" _You are correct, my young pupil," said Gyatso. "We believe that Aang's destiny as the Avatar is intertwined with your own."_

" _What do you mean?" asked Gohan._

" _Ever since Gyatso found you, it was clear that you were special," said the Head Monk. "And as we watched you grow over the years, we've learned that you possess great hidden potential, capable of rivaling even the Avatar's."_

" _Really?" asked the boys._

" _Yes, your powers are greater than anything the world has ever seen, even for an Energy bender," said Gyatso. "We believe this power could be a sign that you will play a great role in assisting Aang and guiding the Energybenders of the future."_

" _We fear that this war will reveal the true purpose of the Energybenders' return, so we must be ready if we want to survive these dark times," said the Head Monk. "Brace yourself boys, the time to accept your destinies is near."_

 _The two boys looked at each other before bowing their heads in obedience. -Flashback ends_

Aang hung his head sadly as he remembered his past. Gohan put his arm around his brother to comfort him, and Katara could only look at the boys with wonder in her eyes.

On Zuko's ship, some of the crew members were gathered around a fire, eating and drinking while listening to the Lieutenant complain about the Fire Princes. "I'm sick of taking his orders and I'm tired of chasing his Avatar! I mean, who does Zuko think he is?!" asked the Lieutenant. "And Trunks is no better. He's always by Zuko's side; the kid's like Zuko's shadow. He's always agreeing with everything he does. What's the deal with those two anyway?!"

"Do you really want to know?" asked a voice above them, the crew members looked up to see the Dragon of the West listening to them.

"General Iroh! We were just..." said the Lieutenant before he was pardoned.

"It's ok. May I join you?" asked Iroh.

"Of course, sir," said the Lieutenant.

Iroh sat down with the crew and stroked his beard as he spoke. "Try to understand, my nephew and my son are complicated young men; they've been through so much together…"

 _Flashback- A younger Prince Zuko and Trunks were walking together down the hall toward the war chamber for the meeting, but before they could enter the chamber, the guards at the side moved in front of the entrance and blocked their paths._

" _Let us in!" ordered Zuko._

" _Prince Zuko, Prince Trunks, what's wrong?" asked Iroh when he arrived._

" _Zuko just wants to listen to the war meeting," explained Trunks._

" _But the guards won't let us pass," said Zuko._

" _You guys aren't missing anything, trust me," said Iroh. "These meetings are dreadfully boring."_

" _If I'm going to rule this nation one day with Trunks by my side, don't you think we need to start learning as much as we can?" Zuko asked his Uncle._

" _We're interested in seeing how far we've gotten in this war, to learn when it will end," said Trunks. "Please, father."_

" _Very well, but you both must promise not to speak," warned Iroh. "These old folks are a bit sensitive, you know."_

" _Thank you, Uncle," said Zuko as he bowed._

" _Thank you, Father," said Trunks as he did the same._

 _General Iroh granted the boys permission into the war chamber and led them inside. Inside, the Fire Lord sat on his throne, surrounded by fire. His army leaders were all gathered around a board with war pieces, discussing a battle strategy. Zuko and Trunks sat beside Iroh as they listened to the Fire soldiers._

" _The Earth Kingdom defenses are concentrated here," said a Fire General. "A dangerous battalion of their strongest Earthbenders and fiercest warriors, so I am recommending the 41_ _st_ _division." The general moved a fire piece toward a few earth pieces to explain his plan._

" _But the 41_ _st_ _is entirely new recruits," said a fire commander. "How do you expect to defeat a powerful Earth Kingdom battalion?"_

" _I don't," replied the General. "They'll be used as a distraction while we mount an attack from the rear; what better to use as bait than fresh meat?"_

" _You can't sacrifice an entire division like that!" shouted Zuko as he stood up and glared at the army leaders. "Those soldiers love and defend our nation, how can you betray them?!"_

 _All eyes were now on the son of Ozai; the army leaders all held stern looks toward Prince Zuko. Flashback ends._

"Zuko was right you see, but it was not his place to speak out, and there were dire consequences," explained Iroh to the crew.

"So you were upset that you were the Avatar?" asked Katara. "Why wouldn't you be excited about it?"

"Well, I didn't know how to feel about. All I knew is after I found out, everything began changing," said Aang.

 _Flashback resumes- Aang and Gohan had come to check on their airbending friends. They saw them all happily riding on the air scooters, now having fully mastered them._

" _Hey not bad, you guys have been practicing," said Aang._

" _Not only that, we made up a game you can play with the air scooters," said the little Airbender as he circled Aang._

" _Great!" Aang created his own air scooter and hopped on; immediately, all the air children got off their scooters. "What's going on?" asked Aang._

" _Now that you're the Avatar, it's kind of an unfair advantage for whichever team you're on," explained an Airbender._

" _But I'm still the same, nothing's changed," said Aang. When no one believed him, he asked, "So what, I can't play?"_

" _That's the only fair way," said the Airbender._

" _Oh, ok." said Aang sadly as he got off his scooter._

" _Sorry, Aang," said the little Airbender._

" _So, you guys are gonna use the technique Aang created to play a game and not include him just 'cause he's the Avatar?" asked Gohan._

" _You could still play if you want, Gohan," offered one of the Airbenders._

" _No thanks," Gohan quickly said, and the two brothers walked away, leaving the air children to play their game._

" _Ok, now who wants to have Jinju on their team?" asked an Airbender as he pointed toward a goofy looking Airbender who was covered with smoke. Jinju pointed to himself and nodded joyfully._

 _Inside their room, Aang was playing a game of Pai Sho with his mentor/guardian while Gohan watched. Although his mentor was into it, Aang was still feeling depressed about the air children distancing themselves from him. He moved his tile on the board without looking._

" _Very interesting move, young one," said Gyatso as he put one hand behind his back._

" _What do you mean?" asked Aang as he looked at the board._

 _His master waved the his hidden hand, creating an air current that flew over their heads and blew Aang's shirt over his face to cover his eyes. Gyatso quickly switched the tiles around just as Aang pulled down his shirt. "Hey!" said Aang as he pointed to the tiles. The three benders started laughing at Gyatso's trick._

" _Good one, Gyatso," said Gohan before he looked to his brother and asked, "Feeling better, Aang?"_

" _A little," replied Aang._

" _Just remember, even if the other kids push you away, you'll always have Gyatso and I by your side," said Gohan as he put his arm around Aang._

" _Thanks, bro," said Aang as he smiled._

 _The room door was suddenly opened and one of the Monks appeared in the doorway. "You're playing games with them?" asked the Monk. "The Avatar and his brother should be training!"_

" _Aang and Gohan have already trained enough for today," said Gyatso, but the Monk was not convinced._

" _Time is short. Come with me, I must test you both on some high level techniques!" said the Monk as he gestured the boys to follow him. The brothers got up, but were quickly stopped by their mentor. "No! As long as I am their guardian, I will decide when they train, and when they get their butts kicked at Pai Sho," dismissed Gyatso. The other Monk humphed before leaving angrily, and the two boys smiled at their master. Flashback ends._

"After Zuko's outburst in the meeting, the Fire Lord became very angry with him," explained Iroh. _Prince Zuko turned to his Father as the fire around his throne grew larger._ "He said that Zuko's challenge at the General was an act of disrespect, and there was only one way to resolve this…"

"Agni Kai, a fire duel," answered Lieutenant.

"That's right," said Iroh. "Zuko looked upon the old General he had insulted and declared that he was not afraid, but Zuko misunderstood…"

 _Flashback resumes- The ring had four torches lit at every corner. Hundreds of people were seated in the audience around the ring where Zuko's duel was to take place. The Fire Prince knelt with his back turned to his opponent while wearing a fire cloth. The son of Ozai turned to face his opponent as he took a stance; when he saw the other Firebender in the ring, his face changed from calm to confusion and the fire cloth slowly fell to the ground as the young prince stared at the bender he would be fighting in fear. Flashback ends._

"When he turned to face his opponent, he was surprised to see it was not the General," explained Iroh. "Zuko had spoken out against the General's plan, but by doing so in the Fire Lord's war room, it was the Fire Lord whom he had disrespected. Zuko would have to duel his own Father!"

"Then, just when I was starting to feel better, something worse happened," said Aang sadly.

 _Flashback resumes-The Monk from earlier and Gyatso were discussing Aang's development with the Head Monk._

" _Aang needs to have freedom and fun; he needs to grow as a normal boy," said Gyatso._

" _Humph, you cannot keep protecting him from his destiny," said the other Monk._

" _Gyatso, I know you mean well, but you are letting your affection for the boy cloud your judgment," said the Head Monk._

" _All I want is what is best for him," said Gyatso humbly._

" _But what we need is what's best for the world," said the Head Monk. "You and Aang must be separated; the Avatar will be sent away to the Eastern Air Temple to complete his training!"_

 _Unknown to the other Monk and the Head Monk, the new Avatar was hiding in the bushes listening to the conversation; his face was full of shock when he heard the Head Monk's decision._

" _What?! You can't just send Aang away!" cried Gohan as he revealed himself to the Monks._

" _Gohan," said Gyatso._

" _Stay out of this, boy!" said the Monk._

 _The Energy bender ignored the Monks and approached the Head Monk. "Look sir, what you're doing isn't going to get Aang to fulfill his destiny any faster, it'll just make him afraid to accept it," said Gohan. "Aang may be the Avatar, but he's still a fourteen year old boy; you can't spring all this on him and expect him to just go along with it. He needs his friends and family by his side in order to be strong."_

" _What he needs, young Energy bender, is to be isolated so that he can focus on mastering the elements and protecting the world," said the Head Monk. "The Avatar must let go of his attachments if he hopes to reach his full potential, which is why he must be sent away! I also see that you are not ready to accept your destiny as Aang's delegate, and that you will only hinder the boy."_

" _What are you saying?" asked Gohan._

" _You need to be kept as far away from Aang as possible; you will be escorted by a few of our Airbenders to the Western Air Temple while Aang will be sent to the Eastern Air Temple," announced the Head Monk._

" _No! You can't, we're brothers!" argued Gohan._

" _Not by blood, and my decision is final!" said the Head Monk._

 _Gohan looked like he wanted to say more, but Gyatso placed his hand on the boy's shoulder and shook his head no; Gohan turned away, very upset. Aang watched as his brother left, knowing that there was no changing the Monk's decision. Flashback ends_

"That's awful, guys," said Katara. "I don't know what to say."

"It's fine, Katara," assured Gohan.

"No, it's not fine!" said Aang as he stormed away. "How could they do that to us?! They wanted to take away everything I knew and everyone I loved!" As the Avatar yelled, his tattoos started to glow and the air around him began to expand; it blew against the fire, spreading the cinders through the air.

"Whoa, hot cinders!" cried Katara.

"Aang, calm down!" said Gohan.

The glow on Aang's tattoos died down and he sat back with his friends. "I'm sorry I got so mad," he apologized.

"You have a right to be angry after the Monks sent you away like that," said Katara.

"Well, that's not exactly what happened," said Aang. "I was afraid and confused; I didn't know what to do…"

 _Flashback resumes- The Air children were laughing as they played the game they invented with Aang's technique. The Avatar watched them sadly from his room window before turning away; he plopped onto his bed and stayed there._

 _Late at night, Gyatso came to the boys' room to check on them. He tapped on the door and it creaked open. "Aang? Gohan? I'm not going to let them take you both away from me," assured Gyatso. "Boys?" When the Monk entered the room, he saw Gohan facing the window while looking downward. Gyatso noticed the opened scroll on Aang's bed and read it; he gasped as he understood where the Avatar was and looked out the window in horror._

 _Lightning flashed as it rained everywhere;_ "I never saw Gyatso again," said Aang. _The Avatar and his Sky bison flew through the storm, but it soon became too strong for them to fly in, and just like in Aang's dreams, he screamed in terror as he and Appa were hurled in to the sea. Appa tried to stay above the water but the waves washed him and Aang under the sea. As the two sank deeper into the ocean, Aang suddenly entered the Avatar state and placed himself and Appa inside an air bubble that eventually hardened into ice._

 _The scene then changed to when Katara held Aang after releasing him from his century-old ice prison._ "Next thing I knew, I was waking up in your arms after you found me in the iceberg." _Flashback ends_.

"You ran away," said Katara.

"And then Gohan left home to look for me and ended up stuck in the spirit world for 100 years," said Aang "And then the Fire Nation attacked our temple. My people needed me and I wasn't there to help."

"You don't know what would've…" said Katara before Aang interrupted her.

"The world needed me and I wasn't there to help!" cried Aang.

"Aang…"said Katara.

"The Fisherman was right, I did turn my back on the world!" agreed Aang.

"You're being too hard on yourself," said Katara. "Even if you did run away, I think it was meant to be. If you had stayed, you and Gohan would've been killed with all the other Airbenders."

"You don't know that," said Aang.

"I know it's meant to be this way. The world needs you now; you give people hope." said Katara.

Aang smiled at his friend as Momo jumped into his lap. He was now feeling better thanks to Katara's words.

"When Prince Zuko saw that it was his Father who had come to duel him, he begged for mercy," said Iroh.

 _Flashback resumes- Fire Lord Ozai slowly approached his son in the ring. "Please Father, I only had the Fire Nation's best interest at heart, I'm sorry I spoke out of turn!" begged Zuko. The Fire Lord ignored his son's plea as he approached him. "You will fight for your honor!" he demanded. "I meant you no disrespect; I am your loyal son!" Zuko assured as he fell to his knees and bowed his head humbly. "Rise and fight, Prince Zuko!" ordered Ozai. The Fire Lord was now directly in front of his kneeling son._

" _I won't fight you!" refused the Fire Prince. "You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher!" declared Ozai. Zuko looked up at his father with tears pouring from his eyes. In the audience, General Iroh watched the "duel" with Commander Zhao behind him and Princess Azula in front of him. The Princess smirked with anticipation while the Commander watched with joy; Iroh held fear on his face as he witnessed his own brother slowly raise his fist._

"Since Zuko refused to fight, everyone knew that it would be over the moment Ozai gave the final strike," explained Iroh. "What we didn't expect was what happened next…"

 _Just as Ozai's fist lit on fire, a yellow energy blast was fired from the stands toward the spot where the Fire Lord stood in ring. Ozai was forced to jump back as the blast collided with the tiles in front of Zuko, and the Prince was blown back a bit by the combustion._

 _Everyone in the audience looked to see who would dare fire at the ruler of the Fire Nation. There were gasps all around when people saw that the traitor was none other than Prince Trunks. Trunks was dressed in a black gi with a red belt and wristbands. The lavender haired fighter slowly walked down the stand toward the ring. Everyone murmured their thoughts to one another as the Energy bender approached the ring._

 _Princess Azula looked to her blue haired friend who was seated next to her; the blue haired girl watched anxiously, which made Azula shake her head in disapproval. Iroh watched with wide eyes as his adoptive son placed his foot onto the ring. "What is the meaning of this, boy?!" demanded Ozai. Trunks stepped in front of Zuko, removed the top half of his gi and tossed it aside. "If Prince Zuko will not fight for his honor, then I, Prince Trunks, shall fight in his place!" declared Trunks_

 _There were gasps all around the ring at this bold announcement. Fire Lord Ozai looked sternly at teen that challenged him and began laughing. "Step aside boy, this duel is none of yours to fight!" ordered Ozai._

" _It is if you wish to strike Zuko, especially when he has refused to fight you and asked for your forgiveness!" said Trunks._

" _Do you have a problem with the way I discipline my subjects?!" asked Ozai._

" _Yes, and I will no longer stand aside and watch your tyranny to the innocent in our nation!" replied Trunks._

 _Ozai saw the look of determination on the boy's face and realized that he was not going to back down, so he said, "Very well, I will accept your challenge! If you manage to defeat me, I will forgive both you and Zuko's acts of disrespect." His face then became serious. "But if you lose, the both will face the punishment that was meant only for him!"_

" _Trunks please, don't do this!" cried Zuko._

 _The lavender haired teen looked back at his friend, who still held sadness and fear in his eyes; he gave Zuko a small smile before looking back at Ozai and saying, "I will accept whatever comes from the outcome of this duel!"_

" _Well then, shall we begin?" asked Ozai as he took a stance. Trunks nodded as he got into his own fighting position. The two combatants glared at each other. Everyone in the audience watched with anticipation. Zuko could only stare back and forth from his friend to his father in worry._

 _The fight started when Ozai shot a fireball at his opponent. Trunks reacted by firing a ki blast at the flames, allowing it to pass over his body without harming him. He then fired another energy attack at the Fire Lord, who engulfed his hand with fire and swatted the attack aside. Ozai launched two more fire attacks that Trunks dodged by rolling to the side. The lavender haired prince fired a ki ball at his opponent, and Ozai countered with a strong burst of flames. It collided with the energy ball and pushed it back at Trunks._

 _The attack knocked Trunks back a bit, allowing Ozai to steadily step forward. Trunks started firing multiple ki blasts at the Fire Lord, but Ozai swept his hand, creating a wave of fire that caused the attacks to detonate before they could reach him. Trunks fired two attacks at Ozai's feet; the Fire Lord launched himself into the air with his Firebending. Trunks then fired four ki blasts at his opponent. Ozai fire kicked two to the ring and blasted the other two away._

 _Trunks then cupped his hands together and channeled purple ki into them._ _ **"GALICK GUN, FIRE!"**_ _he shouted as he fired a purple beam at the Fire Lord. Ozai just smirked as he spread out his hands; he then set them on fire before putting them together. The beam clashed with the flaming hands and split in half, sailing past Ozai without injuring him. Trunks took a few heavy breathes as the Firebender descended to the ring. Ozai then shot a big fire blast at the Energybender. Trunks crossed his arms in front of his face, and the blaze of glory crashed right into the young prince._

 _The teen was slowly pushed back before he was suddenly blown away by the flames. Trunks landed on his back as his body was smoking a bit. Trunks slowly stood up, but as soon as he did, he was nailed by another fire blast from Ozai. The roaring flame pushed the Son of Vegeta back some more and Ozai moved closer to his foe. Trunks stood up once again and was hit by another fire attack from Ozai. Prince Zuko could only watch in horror as his father was only a few feet away from his friend._

 _Trunks once again stood up. Sweat slid down his head from the heat; it was already a very hot day, and the fire attacks only made thing worse. Trunks fired two more attacks but Ozai swatted them away with his Firebending. "You have a strong will, something I wish my son had, but you can't defeat me at you level of power," said Ozai._

" _You son does have a strong will, you just can't see it, and I'm not backing down!" said Trunks._

" _Such a shame, I admire your determination, Trunks," said Ozai. "If you surrender now, I'll forgive you for daring to oppose me."_

 _When Trunks heard Ozai's offer, he grit his teeth; his fists were clenched as he channeled gold ki into them. "You're willing to forgive me for my act of disrespect, but not your own son?!" growled Trunks. He then shot his hands forward and formed a gold sphere in his palms. Gold Ki sparked all around the ring as Trunks glared at Ozai._ _ **"FINAL FLASH!"**_ _yelled Trunks as he fired a gold beam at his opponent, to which the Fire Lord quickly countered with a giant fire blast. The two attacks clashed and Trunks' attacks immediately pushed through Ozai's flames and collided with the Fire Nation's ruler._

 _The Fire Lord was thrown off his feet and landed flat on his back. Trunks then advanced on him by jumping toward his opponent. The Energybender landed in front of Ozai and leveled his right hand at him. Trunks focused ki into his right palm as he prepared to end the duel by scarring Ozai, while the Fire Lord looked at Trunks with a neutral expression._

 _Everyone waited quietly for Trunks to deliver the final blow. Azula watched in fear while her blue haired friend had a look of doubt on her face that Trunks would end it. Just when it seemed that Trunks would fire his attack, Zuko cried, "Don't do it, Trunks! Please!" Trunks looked back at his friend, hesitating in his attack; he then cancelled his attack and lowered his hand. This allowed Ozai to swipe Trunks' leg with a fire kick. Trunks was knocked off his feet and Ozai stood back up, then fired a big blaze of glory that consumed Trunks and pushed him to the other side of the ring._

" _You were foolish to allow hesitation in your attack! That's what makes me stronger than you boy; I don't hesitate!" declared Ozai._

 _Trunks slowly stood up to resume fighting, but he was struck by another fire attack from his opponent. The Energybender's body was covered with red marks as he lay on the ground. Ozai slowly approached the fallen fighter in order to finish their duel. Zuko rushed toward his father and grabbed his wrist. "Please Father, stop this! No more!" begged the Prince. Ozai simply tossed his son aside and said, "I'll deal with you later Zuko, now I must end this duel!"_

 _The Fire Lord turned to see Trunks on his feet again; his hands were leveled at Ozai while in the shape of a diamond._ _ **"BURNING ATTACK!"**_ _cried Trunks. He shot a gold energy ball at the Fire Lord, who quickly countered with an enormous blaze of glory._

 _Ozai's fire swallowed up Trunks' attack before crashing into Trunks and exploding. Trunks lay at the edge of the ring, his body singed and bruised. The Fire Lord shook his head in disappointment as he turned to walk away from the defeated teen._

" _W-Wait, wh-where are you going?" stammered Trunks as he stood up weakly. "D-Don't walk away from me!"_

 _Ozai turned to see Trunks standing again. His body was badly injured and he was breathing very heavily. "Trunks, you can't take anymore! Please stop!" all of Trunks loved ones thought in fear for his life. Trunks could feel his concentration slipping away with his consciousness, but he refused to give in. He channeled ki into his fist as he said, "Your puny flames won't be enough to bring me down!"_

 _Trunks charged at Ozai and jumped up. He raised his hands above his head, planning to blast Ozai with another energy blast. The Energybender was suddenly struck in the stomach by an intense lightning attack from the Fire Lord. The lightning swam around Trunks' body as he was severely electrocuted. He screamed in agony as the lightning entered through his stomach and exited through his right eye. The audience watched as the Energybender suddenly collapsed on the ring, lifeless._

" _Foolish boy, he refused to back down and he lost his life for it. What a waste," said Ozai._

" _TRUNKS!" cried Zuko as he ran to his friend. He placed his hands on Trunks and saw that he was still breathing. "He's still alive!"_

 _The Fire Lord slowly approached the Princes; he stood in front of them and looked down at Trunks. He noticed the burning red lightning shaped mark on his right eye and that he was barely breathing. "So he survived, but that doesn't mean he will be spared from the punishment for losing this fight," said Ozai. "And neither will you, Prince Zuko!"_

 _Zuko looked up at his father in fear as Ozai slowly raised his fist and channeled fire into it. "I now see that both of you possess a weakness that will bring the downfall of our nation. If we are to win this war and achieve dominance over the world, we must snuff out whatever holds us back!" said Ozai. Zuko started to cry as his father continued to talk. "Your weaknesses will be purged out of the both of you, one way or another!"_

 _Iroh watched as his brother showed no mercy toward either of the boys; he immediately turned his face away to avoid seeing Ozai carry out his strike._ "Then, I looked away," explained Iroh, _Zuko's cry of pain was heard throughout the whole stadium as he was struck by his own father. -Flashback ends_

Iroh's face was full of pain as he remembered the suffering his nephew and adoptive son went through years ago.

"I always thought that Prince Zuko and Prince Trunks were in a training accident together," confessed the Lieutenant.

"It was no accident," said Iroh. "After the duel, the Fire Lord said that by refusing to fight, Zuko had shown shameful weakness, and that Trunks had shown the same weakness by hesitating and showing mercy. As punishment, they were banished and sent to capture the Avatar; only then could they return with their honor."

The crew members all held surprised looks on their faces as they now understood the deep pain that lay within their leaders. "So that's why they're so obsessed, capturing the Avatar is the only chance they have of things returning to normal," said the Lieutenant.

"Things will never return to normal," said Iroh. "But the important thing is the Avatar gives Zuko hope!"

"What about Trunks?" asked the Lieutenant.

"He could care less about returning to the Fire Nation just to be under Ozai's rulership, or capturing the Avatar to please him, but he can't bear to watch Zuko suffer. He just wants to help Zuko return home to everyone they care about, to help Zuko fulfill his destiny as future Fire Lord. That's why he's always trying to support Zuko in any way he can."

In his chamber, Zuko was sitting in front of four candles, meditating on his past. The son of Ozai started to remember times of happiness: playing with his family and friends, spending time with his beloved father, and looking forward to following in his footsteps to become the next Fire Lord. The once cheerful Prince with a pure heart was now an angry tyrant full of pain and sadness. Trunks then entered Zuko's chamber and saw him meditating; normally, Zuko would tell all to leave him in peace unless they have news about the Avatar, but he wasn't in the mood now.

The lavender haired Prince went over to his friend and placed his hand on his shoulder. Zuko gave a heavy sigh and said nothing. "I just want you to know that you're not alone on this mission, we both want to go home," said Trunks. Zuko turned to his friend and looked at his face. His eyes locked onto the lightning shaped scar on Trunks' right eye, a painful reminder of humiliation by Ozai. "We're in this together, and one day, we'll be able to return home."

The two Princes suddenly became alert when lightning struck the top of the fire navy ship…

"Help! Oh please, help!" cried the fisherman's wife from the entrance of the cave. Katara rushed to the old woman and helped her into the cave. "It's ok, you're safe!" she said.

"But my husband isn't," said the old woman.

"What do you mean? Where's Sokka?" asked Katara.

"They haven't retuned! They should've been back by now, and this storm is becoming a typhoon. They're caught out at sea!" explained the old woman.

This news seemed to worry the Avatar, who then stood up and announced, "I'm going to find them!"

"I'm going with you!" said Katara.

"I'm going too!" said Gohan.

"I'm staying here!" said the old woman.

After Gohan told Icarus to stay behind and Aang promised the fisherman's wife that they'd return soon, the three benders hopped onto Appa's saddle and flew into the storm.

Zuko's ship was swaying roughly on the sea; all the crew members were struggling to maintain balance on deck. "Where were we hit?!" asked Prince Zuko. "I don't know!" replied the Lieutenant. "Look!" cried Iroh as he pointed to the top of the ship, where the helmsman was dangling from the top of the ship by one hand. "The Helmsman!" cried Zuko. Lightning continued to flash near the top of the ship as the helmsman held on for his life. Prince Zuko and the Lieutenant quickly climbed the ship's ladder toward the Helmsman.

On deck, General Iroh took a deep breath and positioned himself. A lightning bolt struck the Dragon of the West, and he moved his hands as he channeled the lightning through his body and directed it toward the sea, getting slightly shocked in the process. His body was smoking and his hair stood out from the shock. The ship rocked again and the Helmsman was forced to let go of the ship. He fell but was immediately caught by the future Fire Lord. Prince Zuko passed the Helmsman to the Lieutenant as they climbed downward.

The gang was flying above the roaring waves, looking for Sokka and the old Fisherman. The rain continued to pour heavily while the waves continued to increase in size. "Where are they?!" asked Katara. The teens were suddenly caught in a large wave; the sky bison struggled against the waves. "Come on, Appa!" cried Aang. The beast swung its tail and flew high above the water as they headed toward a giant tidal wave that was about to swallow them. The Avatar had a determined look on his face and started to rapidly rotate his staff, allowing the gang to fly through the wave with ease.

"The boat!" cried Aang when he spotted it. "There!"

They flew toward the fishing boat, coincidentally passing over Zuko's fire navy ship. Onboard the ship, all of Zuko's crew members noticed the flying bison in the storm. "The Avatar!" exclaimed Prince Zuko. "What do you want to do, sir?!" asked the Lieutenant. Zuko thought about this for a moment and replied, "Let him go, we need to get this ship to safety!"

"Then we must head directly into the eye of the storm," advised Iroh as he smiled at his nephew.

At sea, the fisherman's boat rocked against the waves. The fisherman and Sokka were struggling to control the boat, but the storm fought back harder every time. "I'm too young to die!" cried Sokka.

"I'm not, but I still don't wanna!" yelled the fisherman.

Appa then flew close to the boat, allowing Aang to jump onboard. Lightning struck the mast of the boat, causing it to tip over toward the Avatar, the fisherman, and Sokka. Acting quick, Aang used waterbending to split the mast in half, saving himself and the two non benders, who had huddled together in fear.

Sokka then tied a rope around himself and the fisherman as Aang approached them. "Hang on to the rope!" said Aang. He then took the rope and jumped back onto Appa's saddle; the two men were then pulled straight onto Appa's saddle, but as soon as they were, an enormous wave appeared behind them. Before the Gang could escape it, they were consumed by the wave and knocked underwater. As the bison sank deeper under the sea, Aang slowly drifted away from Appa's saddle.

Aang's eyes slowly opened and he held his breath. He caught a glimpse of the rest of the Gang; they were all desperately holding onto the saddle but they were all unconscious. Aang's tattoos suddenly started glowing and he grabbed Appa's reins. Now in the Avatar State, the Avatar created an air bubble, like he did a century ago, in order to save his friends. The air bubble allowed the others to breathe and let Appa move freely through the sea.

The lightning continued to flash before the storm eventually calmed down. Zuko's ship sailed calmly through the sea as the rain let up. Prince Zuko stood with his uncle and fellow Prince as they sailed through the center of the storm. "Uncle," said Zuko, getting Iroh's attention. "I'm sorry." "Your apology is accepted, Prince Zuko," said Iroh, placing his hand on his nephew's shoulder as he accepted his humble apology. He then left his adoptive son and nephew alone.

"I thought you said the safety of the crew wasn't as important as finding the Avatar?" teased Trunks.

"I was wrong," replied Zuko. "Besides, without the crew, it'll be much harder to track down the Avatar."

"Wise thinking, Prince Zuko," said Trunks. He turned to leave him alone.

"And Trunks," said Zuko, getting Trunks to look at him again, "You're right, and one day we'll return home with our honor restored. Thanks."

"No prob," replied Trunks before he left.

Close to the ship, the Gang resurfaced from the water. The air bubble popped as Appa ascended out of the water and into the air. As the Gang flew over Zuko's ship, Gohan and Aang looked back at the ship, locking eyes with Trunks and Zuko. The Fire Princes watched the Gang fly into the clouds and disappear into the sky.

Moments later, the Gang had returned to the cave with the fisherman. His wife immediately came to greet them.

"Oh, you're alive!" said the wife as she embraced her husband. Then she released him and pointed to Aang. "You owe this boy an apology!"

"He doesn't have to apologize," said Aang.

"What if instead of an apology, I give him a free fish and we call it even?" offered the fisherman.

"Actually, I don't eat meat," said Aang.

"Fish ain't meat!" said the fisherman.

Sokka approached the married couple and spoke to the fisherman, "Seriously, you're still gonna pay me right?" Sokka asked as held out his hand. The fisherman answered by placing a dead fish in the Water Tribesman's hand, surprising him. His spiky haired friend then grabbed the fish and licked his lips. "This will make a great lunch," he said.

"Katara," said Aang to the Waterbender. "I think you were right before, I'm done dwelling on the past."

"Really?" asked Katara.

"I can't make a guess about how things would've turned out if I hadn't run away," said Aang. "I'm here now and I'm going to make the most of it!"

"Great to hear it, bro!" said Gohan once he heard Aang's resolve.

"I don't think you're gonna have those nightmares anymore," said Katara as she smiled.

The fisherman then came up to Aang and said, "And if you weren't here now, well, I guess I wouldn't be either. Thank you for saving my life, Avatar." The gratitude from the fisherman made Aang smile. Sokka then looked out the cave entrance as the rain ended. "Do you hear that? It stopped raining," said the Tribesman.

Everyone went outside to see the sun starting to shine through the clouds, but the beautiful moment was ruined when Appa started shaking his fur to dry himself off. Everyone standing by him was drenched before they backed away and complained to the beast.

 **A/N: Done, hope you guys like the insight on Trunks' back story! Don't worry, all will be revealed someday. Sorry to anyone who doesn't like how the Fire/Ki duel went, but I had to cut down the Saiyan Prince's power to make it fit in the Avatar universe. Please just roll with it, I'll make them stronger later in the story. Believe me, I have plans for the Future of Five Elements.**

 **Keep reading and send your reviews/suggestions!**

 **Oh, before I forget, to the guest who suggested I put Beat and Note from DBH in the story, I'll try to find a way to fit them into the story but at this point they may just be supporting characters or something like that. Let me know if that's alright with you.**

 **Story recommendations:**

 **Living the Past and New Face of Justice by Comorep677**

 **Fallen Faunus by Xman321**

 **Dragon Ball GT Super by JTD3**

 **Naruto and Gohan: Legends will rise by Kang of Dragons**

 **Kitsune Warrior by KuroArashi94**

 **TTFN AntiHero out!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Ok, time to move forward and continue the progress of this story. Hope you like what I did to this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer- I own nothing**

 **Chapter 12- The Red and Blue Spirits**

Late at night, a messenger hawk was soaring through the skies toward a Fire Nation Fortress. The entire place was filled with fire guards scouting out every corner of the stronghold, and in the courtyard, skilled archers were firing multiple arrows at a target. Meanwhile, Commander Zhao and Cornel Shinu were watching the archers train while Zhao presented his request to the Fire Cornel.

"Absolutely not! The Yuyan archers stay here," replied the Cornel. "Your request is denied, Commander Zhao."

"Cornel Shi Nu, please reconsider," requested Zhao. "Their precision is legendary; the Yuyan can pin a fly to a tree from a hundred yards away without killing it." As Zhao spoke, one of the archers fired four arrows at the same time; all of them hit a bull's-eye. "You're wasting their talents using them as mere security guards."

"I can do whatever I want with their talents," argued Cornel Shinu. "They're my archers, and what I say goes!"

"But my search for the Avatar is…" said Zhao before he was interrupted.

"Is nothing but a fantasy project! We're fighting a real war here, and I need every man I got, Commander," said the Cornel as he got in Zhao's face.

"But…" Zhao prepared to argue before he was shut down.

"That's final!" dismissed Shinu. "I don't wanna hear another word about it!"

Commander Zhao growled in defeat when they suddenly heard the screech of a messenger hawk; the bird flew into the watchtower and landed on Cornel Shinu's wrist. The Fire Cornel pulled out the message from the bird's pack and read it, and his face quickly turned to shock from the message. "News from Fire Lord Ozai?" asked Zhao as he approached the Cornel. Shinu reluctantly handed the message to the still-Commander, who read it and smirked at the good news. "It appears I've been promoted to Admiral and Brody has been given my position as Commander. My request… is now an order."

The Fire Cornel bowed to the new Admiral and left to inform his archers of their new position; the Yuyan archers continued practicing as the Fire Admiral watched with pride. On top of the watchtower, two mysterious beings were watching everything that transpired. The two spies wore an all-black cover suit, making them completely invisible in the dark. Their faces were the only things not covered in black, but rather masks with horns on their heads, big ears, unibrows, and wide smiles with two fangs sticking out from their upper jaws.

The spy on the left wore a blue mask while carrying dual swords on his black and the spy on the right wore a red mask while he had a single sword strapped to his back. After hearing the news of Zhao's promotion, the two spies looked at each other before quietly sneaking away.

The next morning, the Gang took refuge in a deserted Earth town. There was moss everywhere from the number of years the place was abandoned. The four teens, the bison, the dragon, and the lemur were camping inside an old building. Gohan was keeping the fire going while Aang and Katara were checking on Sokka. The oldest teen was tucked away in his sleeping bag and laid against Appa; he was coughing, shivering, and sweating nonstop due to his illness. "This should bring your fever down," said Katara as she placed a wet cloth on her brother's forehead.

"You know what I love about Appa the most?" asked the delusional teen. "His sense of humor."

"That's nice, I'll tell him," said Katara.

"Should you be playing along with his delusions?" asked Gohan.

The Sky Bison growled and Sokka started laughing. "Classic Appa," said Sokka.

"How's Sokka doing?" asked Aang.

"Not so good, being out in that storm really did a number in him," replied Katara while her brother continued to shiver as his nose became runny.

"I couldn't find any ginger root for the tea, but I found a map," said Aang. He then placed the map on the floor and opened it up. "There's an Herbalist institute on the top of that mountain; we could probably find a cure for Sokka there."

"Then we should go right away," suggested Gohan.

"Guys, he's in no condition to travel," said Katara. "Sokka just needs more rest, I'm sure he'll be better by tomorrow."

The only girl in the group then started coughing strongly. "Not you too!" said Aang. "Relax, it was just a little cough. I'm fi—" Before she could finish, Katara resumed coughing, only now it had gotten worse. The boys covered their faces with their arms until Katara's coughing stopped, and when she stopped, her face expressed nausea. "That's how Sokka started yesterday!" said Aang. "Now look at him, he thinks he's an Earthbender!"

True to what the monk said, Sokka started punching the air as he believed he was bending a rock. "Take that, you rock!" said Sokka.

"A few more hours and you'll be talking nonsense too." The Avatar closed the map and grabbed his staff. "I'm going to find some medicine!" The Airbender marched over to the exit and opened his glider, but then lightning flashed from the sky and Aang suddenly had second thoughts about flying. "Uh, maybe it's safer if I go on foot," said Aang as he closed his glider. "Keep an eye on them, guys," the Avatar instructed Appa, Momo, and Icarus; the pets made their usual sounds and Sokka laughed again.

"Ha ha! You guys are killing me!" said Sokka.

Aang looked at his sick companions with concern while Gohan came to see him off. "You'd better hurry; their illness could spread to us if it's not cured fast."

"Let's hope I can get back before that happens," said Aang.

The Airbender then jumped a great distance away from their camp and started running incredibly fast. In a few seconds, he had already left the abandoned town and was headed toward the mountain.

Out at sea, Prince Zuko's ship was casually sailing as the hunt for the Avatar continued. Inside the ship, Prince Zuko, Trunks, and the Lieutenant were trying to pick up the Avatar's trail with their map while Iroh and some crew members were playing Pai Sho. "We haven't been able to pick up the Avatar's trail since the storm," explained the Lieutenant. "But if we continue heading northeast…" He was suddenly interrupted by a large shadow covering the map. Everyone looked up to see one of Admiral Zhao's ships stopping by theirs.

"What do they want?" asked Zuko.

"Perhaps a sporting game of Pai Sho." said Iroh excitedly.

"I don't think so," replied Trunks. "I sense Brody on that ship, but not Zhao. And if Brody's here alone, it can't be for a good reason."

Pretty soon, Brody and three more fire soldiers had boarded Zuko's ship. One of the soldiers opened two scrolls; one of them was a wanted poster of Aang while the other was of Gohan. "The hunt for the Avatar has been given prime importance! All information on the Avatar must be reported directly to either Admiral Zhao or Commander Brute!" said the fire captain.

"So, you and Zhao were promoted, huh Brody?" asked Iroh. "Well, good for you two." The old general moved a tile on the board and the crew members frowned while Iroh smiled.

"It's Commander Brute now!" said Brody. "And we're not here for your congrats. We want to know about the Avatar, or better yet, the Energybender he's traveling with!"

"What do you care of Gohan?" asked Trunks. "Why did Zhao bother to make his capture just as important as the Avatar's?"

"He didn't, I requested it to my Admiral and he graciously granted my request," replied Brody.

"Why do you want Gohan anyway? He's no threat to the Fire Nation!" argued Trunks.

"That's what you think, but I saw his power, his potential. If he is allowed to go free, then he could become too great a threat to our Nation! So I've decided to make sure he's brought to me so that I can end this little problem personally," said Brody. As he spoke, his mind went back to the incident at the fire temple where Gohan had defeated him. He growled and clenched his teeth at this flashback.

Trunks noticed this. "I see, you haven't gotten over your defeat by him, and you want revenge," said Trunks.

"Don't mock me, pretty boy, he got lucky that day. The next time I see him, I won't be beaten like you were!" growled Brody.

The two Energybenders glared at each other, and for a second their ki sparked around themselves, indicating that they wanted to fight.

"Just give us whatever Intel you have on those two!" ordered Brody as they calmed down.

"We have nothing to report to you or Zhao," answered Zuko. "Now get off my ship and let us pass!"

"I'm afraid the new Admiral is not allowing ships in or out of this area," said Brody. "And neither am I."

"OFF MY SHIP!" Prince Zuko yelled furiously.

"Or what?" asked Brody as he approached Zuko. A ki blast was suddenly launched at Brody's face, but he quickly caught it in his hand and crushed it. He turned to Trunks, who had his hand directed at Brody. "That was a warning shot, now get off our ship!" said Trunks as he prepared to fire another blast. "And if you want Gohan, you'll have to get past me. Don't forget that!" Commander Brute glared at the Son of Iroh before saying, "You don't know who you're challenging, pretty boy." The New Commander and his fire soldiers then exited the ship.

"Excellent!" cried Iroh, his attention still on the board game. "I take the pot!" The retired General took all the Pai Sho pieces on the board and the crew members expressed disappointment. "But you're all improving, I'm certain you will win if we play again," said Iroh as he smirked, clearly trying to goad the crew members into losing again. Everyone's attention was soon on the fire princes, who were staring out the window.

"This complicates things," said Trunks.

"Yes, it does a lot," agreed Zuko.

"So what do we do?" asked Trunks.

The son of Ozai gave no reply to his friend's question, as it seemed their quest would end in failure and that they'd never be able to return home.

Meanwhile in the mountains, a couple of scouts were hiding in a tree house while looking at the wanted poster of the Avatar. "It says here that the Avatar can create tornados and run faster than the wind," said one of the scouts.

"Ah, that's just a bunch of Fire Lord Propaganda; there's no way that's true!" argued the scout who was looking through the telescope. He then saw something running very fast from a far away distance. The speedy Airbender soon ran past the scouts' tree house, destroying it completely. The scouts stood there shocked at first but then one of them blew into a horn.

The Avatar quickly ran up the mountain steps and into the herbalist's greenhouse. When he got inside, he ran past a white cat and approached an old woman. "Hello, I'm sorry to barge in like this but I need some medicine for my friends; they have fevers and they've been coughing and…" Aang said rather fast.

"Settle down young man, your friends are going to be fine," said the old woman. "I've been up here for over forty years ya know, there used to be others but they all left years ago. Now it's just me and Miyuki." The herbalist petted her cat as she spoke.

"That's nice," replied Aang, clearly uninterested.

"Wounded Earth Kingdom troops still come by now and then, brave boys, and thanks to my remedies they always leave in better shape than they arrive," said the herbalist as she stirred ingredients in a bowl.

"That's nice. Are you almost done?" asked Aang as he grew impatient.

"Hold on, I just need to add one last ingredient," said the old woman. She then walked to a few of her plants and started searching for the last ingredient. She looked from plant to plant, rejecting everyone as she continued to search. Aang's expressed boredom as he waited on the herbalist.

On Zuko's ship, the son of Ozai was letting his anger out by shooting fire attacks into the sky. "Is everything ok?" asked Iroh when he went to check on his nephew. "It's been almost an hour and you haven't given the men a single order."

"I don't care what they do!" replied Zuko.

"Don't give up hope yet, you can still capture the Avatar before Zhao," Iroh said, attempting to encourage his nephew.

"How, Uncle? With Zhao's resources, it's only a matter of time before he captures the Avatar!" argued Prince Zuko. He turned away from his teacher as his hope at returning home with honor began to fade away. "My honor, my throne, my country, I'm about to lose them all. And worst of all, Trunks is going down with me."

Back in the mountains, the herbalist found her final ingredient. "Ah ha, here's what I was looking for, plum blossoms!" She plucked one of the plum blossoms from its tree and placed it into her bowl.

"Finally!" said Aang. He rushed to the old woman and reached for the bowl. "Thanks for all your help."

The herbalist quickly smacked his hand away with a spoon. "What do you think you're doing?!" she asked furiously.

"Taking the cure to my friends," replied a confused Aang.

"Oh, this isn't a cure," laughed the herbalist. "It's Miyuki's dinner. Plum blossom is her favorite." She placed the bowl in front of her pet and the cat began to chow down.

"What about my friends?!" asked Aang.

"Well, all they need is some frozen wood frogs," said the herbalist. "There are plenty of them down in the valley swamp."

"What am I supposed to do with frozen frogs?" asked Aang.

"Why, suck on them, of course," replied the herbalist.

"Suck on them?!" repeated Aang.

"The frogs' skin excretes a substance that'll cure your friends. But make sure you get plenty; once those little critters thaw out, they're useless!" warned the herbalist.

Aang stared at the herbalist for a while before saying, "You're insane, aren't you?"

"That's right," said the old woman. When she saw Aang was still there, she pointed her spoon at the monk and said, "Well don't stand there all day, go!" Pieces of the cat's dinner flew off the spoon and hit Aang in the eyes. The Airbender cleaned his face as he stepped outside when two arrows were suddenly shot at his feet, impaling his shoes and binding him to the floor. Aang stumbled and fell on his hands before looking up to see archers firing more arrows at him.

Aang deflected the arrows with an air wave, sending them into the trees. He then pulled out one of the arrows in his shoe and held it up as he said to the archers, "Uh, I think you dropped this."

The archers ignored Aang as they grabbed more arrows and aimed at him, and the Avatar's face expressed fear as he realized what was going on. The young monk struggled to remove the other arrow in his shoe as eight more were shot at him. He quickly freed himself and dodged the arrows. He ran toward the gate but more arrows were fired at him, forcing him to jump back and run the other way. Aang ran to the edge of the mountain and jumped off, screaming as he descended towards the ground.

The Archers quickly jumped after him. Aang landed roughly in the trees and continued to fall through them with force while the archers fired roped arrows at a tree and swung onto another branch. Aang jumped from tree to tree with the archers right on his tail. More arrows were fired at Aang, barely missing him as he jumped off the trees.

The Avatar slipped on one of the trees and landed in the valley swamp; he emerged from the water and pulled out an iced amphibian. "A frog!" he exclaimed just before it was knocked out of his palm by an arrow. Aang started to collect frozen frogs while still avoiding the arrows.

He pulled out another frog when his left arm was suddenly pinned to a fallen tree by an arrow, and before he could free himself, three more arrows pinned him to the tree. The archers fired more arrows at Aang, so he tried to protect himself by creating a wall of ice, but the cluster of arrows eventually shattered his ice shield. Five arrows pinned his right arm to the tree before a net was fired at him. The Avatar was now captured.

Gohan suddenly jolted up and looked toward the sky. "Something's not right," he said. He then got up and walked toward the exit. Katara noticed him and asked, "Gohan? Where are you going?" while half awake. Not wanting his friends to worry, Gohan replied, "I'm just going to check on Aang, it won't take long." "Oh, ok," said Katara as she fell back asleep. Gohan closed his eyes and concentrated on his brother's ki. In a few minutes he managed to pick up on Aang's life force.

" _His energy seems a bit low at the moment, that can't be good,"_ thought the Energybender. _"And it's surrounded by many others, too."_

Gohan then jumped into the air and flew off into the sky.

The Avatar slowly opened his eyes and raised his head. His face expressed anger as he now found himself inside a fire nation stronghold. His arms and legs were chained to two posts that were on fire. Six guards stood at the door of Aang's cell. The Airbender struggled against his restraints when the door suddenly opened and Admiral Zhao walked in.

"So this is the great Avatar, master of all the elements," said Zhao as he approached Aang, clearly unimpressed. He then circled Aang as he continued to speak. "I don't know how you managed to elude the fire nation for 100 years, but your little game of hide and seek is over."

"I've never hidden from you! Untie me and I'll fight you right now!" challenged Aang.

"Uh, no," said Zhao. "Tell me, how does it feel to be the only Airbender left? Do you miss your people?" The Admiral got in Aang's face as he asked him those sensitive questions, causing the last Airbender's face to turn sad at Zhao's words. "Don't worry, you won't be killed like they were," said Zhao, which made Aang glare at him. "See, if you die, you'll just be reborn and the fire nation will have to begin its search for the Avatar all over again. So I'll keep you alive, but just barely."

The Fire Admiral turned and walked away when Aang took a deep breath and lung punched the Admiral in the back, knocking him into the wall. Zhao got up and brushed himself off. "Blow all the wind you want, your situation is futile," assured Zhao. "There is no escaping this fortress, and no one is coming to rescue you!"

Admiral Zhao shut the door as he left the Avatar's prison.

Outside the stronghold, the Red spirit and the Blue spirit were hiding in the bushes. A komodo rhino was pulling a cart toward the stronghold when the two spirits climbed under the cart. The cart was stopped at the gate by some fire guards. As they searched the cart, one of the guards looked under the cart; he found nothing as the two spirits were gone. "All clear, go on in," said the guard to the driver. The cart moved toward the gate with the two spirits inside it.

When they made it inside the stronghold, the spirits quickly ran inside before they could be spotted.

Admiral Zhao was soon standing at a balcony with the Fire Cornel at his side. The rest of his men were standing in the courtyard as the Admiral spoke. "WE ARE THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF FIRE, THE SUPERIOR ELEMENT! UNTIL TODAY, ONLY ONE STOOD IN OUR PATH TO VICTORY: THE AVATAR!" The spirits snuck past two guards as the Admiral gave his speech. "I AM HERE TO TELL YOU THAT HE IS NOW MY PRISONER!"

The fire soldiers cheered at the news Zhao gave them. "THIS IS THE YEAR SOZIN'S COMET RETURNS TO GRANT US ITS POWER!" Zhao continued "THIS IS THE YEAR THE FIRE NATION BREAKS THROUGH THE WALLS OF BA SING SE AND BURNS THE CITY TO THE GROUND!" Fire soldiers roared at the inspiration from Zhao's speech while the spirits climbed into the courtyard and entered the sewers. They slipped through the bars and began traveling underground.

Inside Aang's prison, he continued to struggle at his restraints but to no avail. When he stopped to take a break, he felt something moving in his shirt. The frozen frogs he collected were now half frozen and began jumping out of his shirt. "What? No, don't leave, frogs! My friends are sick and they need you, please go back to being frozen!"

The frogs crawled away from the Avatar. The six guards outside heard the frogs croaking and looked down to see the frogs crawling out from under the door. Their attention then went to the banging sound of a fire guard helmet, the helmet bounced on the floor and landed at their feet.

One of the guards walked over to where the helmet came from, and as soon as he went around the corner, there were sounds of grunting and a blast of fire. Three more guards went to investigate; when they went around the corner, they saw the previous guard was gagged and chained to the ceiling. They stared at their comrade in shock, unaware of the two spirits hanging above their heads. Chains were suddenly wrapped around the guards before they could react.

The last two guards heard the sounds of their comrades being beaten and one of them grabbed the horn on the wall to call for back up. However, a knife was thrown at him and it knocked the horn out of his hand. The guards saw the Blue Spirit charging at them with one hand behind his back. They shot a fire blast at him but he swung his arm forward to toss a bucket of water that put out the fire.

The first guard was knocked off his feet by the Blue Spirit while the Red Spirit kicked the second guard in the face. Inside his cell, Aang could hear the banging noises. His door was suddenly opened and the two Spirits walked in. Aang gasped at the sight of them. The Blue Spirit then pulled out his dual swords and approached Aang as he swung them; the Avatar screamed in terror.

Aang closed his eyes as he waited for the Blue Spirit to strike him, but instead his chains were cut from their posts. The Airbender looked at his hand before staring at the Blue Spirit, who quickly sliced his shackles off. The Blue Spirit put one of his swords away and walked toward the door. "Who are you guys? What's going on? Are you here to rescue me?" asked the monk. The Spirits replied by motioning Aang to follow them as they exited the cell. "I'll take that as a yes," said Aang as he followed.

Outside the prison, Aang saw the guards that were tied up and gagged struggling to get up. He then turned and saw the woodland frogs crawling away. "My frogs!" he exclaimed "Come back, and stop thawing out!" He tried to grab a few but they slipped out of his hands. The two Spirits then came up to him and pulled him away. "Wait! My friends need to suck on those frogs!" yelled Aang.

Outside, Gohan was approaching the stronghold. He quickly descended toward the ground in the courtyard and hid himself from the fire soldiers. _"There are fire soldiers everywhere; this must be some fire nation prison,"_ thought Gohan. _"If Aang's here, then he must've been captured."_ The Son of Goku closed his eyes again and concentrated on sensing Aang's life force. His attention was directed toward a single tower in the center of the entire stronghold.

" _Ok he's in there. Now how do I get in without being spotted?"_ thought Gohan. He looked around until his eyes located the sewers that led under the stronghold. _"That'll work."_

A few minutes later inside the stronghold, the two Spirits led Aang through the hallway to where they entered the prison tower. As they led Aang around another corner, they came face-to-face with the spiky haired Energybender.

"Gohan!" cried Aang.

"Aang, get back!" ordered Gohan. He channeled ki into his hands and fired them at the Spirits, but Aang quickly used his airbending to redirect them into another hallway. "Wait Gohan, these guys are helping me escape!" explained Aang.

"Really?" asked Gohan.

"Yeah." replied Aang.

"Oh, sorry then," Gohan apologized. The Spirits simply nodded to him. "We'd better get out of here!"

Suddenly, a green ki blast was fired; it hit Gohan in the back and knocked him into a wall. "Apologies brat, but no one's going anywhere," said Brody as he revealed himself. The Blue Spirit brought out his dual swords, the Red Spirit pulled out his sword, and Aang took a fighting position. "So, we've got two thieves trying to steal the Avatar from us. Although I was expecting only the brat to show, this makes things more interesting."

"You knew I was coming?" asked Gohan as he stood up.

"Yes, the moment Admiral Zhao captured the Avatar alone, I knew you'd find your way here to try and save him. I was waiting for you to get here; once I sensed your ki in this place, I came to stop you from getting to the Avatar." explained Brody.

"Well, you made a mistake trying to stop us, 'cause now we've got you outnumbered!" said Aang. "But if you let us go, we won't hurt you!"

"Don't try to bluff me, little Avatar, as if numbers mean anything to me!" said Commander Brute.

The Fire Commander shot a ki blast at the young monk, which Aang blocked with an air shield before countering with an air blast. Brody was blown straight into a wall, but he simply stood up and smirked; he rushed at Aang and bashed him into another hall. The two Spirits charged at the Energybender with their swords ready. Brody dodged their slashes and struck the Blue Spirit in the chest while grabbing one of his swords. The Red Spirit swung his sword rapidly at Brody, but he blocked all of his swings with the Blue Spirit's sword and kicked the Red Spirit away.

"I barely broke a sweat, and you thought four-on-one would give you an advantage," mocked Brody.

The Commander was suddenly knocked over by an air wave from behind; he turned around to see Aang launching more wind attacks. He withstood all of the attacks and fired an energy blast at the Avatar. Aang hit it with an air blast, which created a small explosion that knocked Aang into Gohan just as he was about to get up.

The Blue Spirit's sword was suddenly swiped out of the Commander's hand by the Red Spirit, who then started using both blades against the Energybender. The Red Spirit swung multiple times at Brody, only managing to scratch his armor a few times before he grabbed both blades with his hands. The Red Spirit was then kicked into the Blue Spirit. Brody then threw the blades down and smirked.

"And here I thought you could give me a real workout. I guess I was wrong," said Brody.

"How's this for a workout?!" yelled Gohan.

The young fighter jumped over Brody and grabbed him by his hair. He landed behind him and tossed him into a wall. Brody stood up in time to see Gohan channeling ki into his palms, which were placed above his head. **"MASENKO, HA!"** cried Gohan as he fired his signature yellow beam at Brody. The Commander raised his arms and crossed them in an effort to block the attack. The beam hit him and pushed him into a wall and Gohan's attack didn't stop coming as it was now preventing Brody from moving.

"Now's your chance, get out of here now!" Gohan ordered the others.

"What?!" asked Aang. "No, we can't leave you!"

"Listen, I'm the only one who can take him right now, so get out of here now while I have him in place," said Gohan.

"No, I won't leave you to face him alone!" argued Aang.

"Aang! Katara and Sokka are still sick and you're the only one who knows how to cure them, you need to get to them fast and help them recover!" urged Gohan. Aang opened his mouth to argue but he knew Gohan had a good point. Gohan saw Aang's hesitation and said, "Don't worry about me, I can handle this guy! I'll beat him and meet up with you guys, just make sure you escape!"

The Avatar sighed and said, "Alright, let's go!"

"I don't think so!" cried Brody as he slowly pushed through the beam and walked toward Gohan. When he was right in front of him, he attempted to punch the young boy in the face but Gohan cancelled his beam and quickly jumped back to avoid Brody's fist. The Commander punched the ground before rushing at his opponent. Gohan charged at him and the two collided in a grappling match. "Go now!" ordered Gohan.

The two Spirits picked up their weapons as Gohan said to them, "Don't know why I'm trusting you guys, but I am. So make sure you get my brother out of here safely!" The Spirits nodded before running off with the Avatar through another hallway.

The two struggled for a while until Gohan kicked Brody in the chin, making him let go and stumble back. Gohan tried to punch him but Brody grabbed his fist and tossed him into the ceiling before kicking him down and stomping on him.

"You really think you can me alone?" asked Brody.

"Yeah I do!" replied Gohan. He then blasted Brody in the face, causing him to stumble back, and struck him in the chest with his palm. Brody quickly recovered and punched Gohan in his right cheek. Gohan shook it off and tried to attack Brody but he was blasted into a wall by a green beam. Brody then elbow bashed Gohan in the gut, which he countered with a blow to Brody's head. Brody clenched his teeth and slammed Gohan into the ground, but the Son of Goku quickly got and jumped back.

Brody rushed at him with his fist ready but Gohan created a blue sphere of energy to protect himself. Brody's fist made impact with the energy shield and did nothing. He growled before he started rapidly punching Gohan's force field. After a few punches, the shield cracked and shattered, leaving Gohan vulnerable. He quickly dodged Brody's fist and hand chopped him in the head before kicking his chest multiple times. He then shot his hands forward and blew Brody back with a kiai attack. The Fire Commander cracked his neck and took a stance.

"What makes you think you stand a chance against me alone?!" asked Brody.

"'Cause now that I sense that they're not close by, I don't have to hold back!" said Gohan.

His body suddenly started emitting a white aura and his ki began to rise. Brody smirked at this and started releasing his own aura of green ki. "Well then, show me that same power you used in the fire temple! Let's see what you got!" challenged Brody. The two Energybenders channeled ki into their right hands and charged at each other; they threw their fists forward as they resumed their battle.

Meanwhile in the sewers, the two Spirits and the Avatar were running underground toward the courtyard. "I sure hope Gohan can handle that guy," said Aang as they ran. The Red Spirit suddenly stopped, making the other two look at him. "What's the matter?" asked Aang. The Red Spirit didn't reply as he pulled out his sword and stared at his partner. A sort of understanding passed between the two as the Blue Spirit nodded to his comrade.

The Red Spirit nodded back and headed back to the prison tower. The Blue Spirit ran the opposite direction with Aang close behind him. "Is he going back to help my brother?" Aang asked his rescuer. The Blue Spirit looked at him and nodded.

Back in the prison tower, Gohan was knocked into the wall. He groaned in pain as he slowly stood, but was then met with a punch to the gut from his enemy. Gohan grasped his stomach as he fell to his knees and Brody smirked as he watched Gohan in pain. "What's wrong, brat? Don't like being beaten by a stronger fighter?" asked Brody. Gohan glared at him before jumping up to punch him. The Commander dodged the attack and kicked Gohan in the side of his waist.

Gohan grasped his waist as he fired an energy blast with one hand. Brody simply caught with in palm and crushed it. The young fighter got up and tried to kick Brody, but his attack was blocked by the Commander's arm. Gohan then threw a punch at Brody which nailed him in the left cheek. Brody glared at Gohan and hand chopped him away. "Can't you use the power you had at that fire temple?" asked Brody as Gohan rolled on the ground. "Too bad, cause without it, you've got no chance of beating me."

The Fire Commander slowly walked toward Gohan who was still down, when he suddenly sensed the presence of another fighter behind him. He slanted to the right where he barely managed to dodge a slash from the Red Spirit. "You again?!" cried Brody as he dodged another strike from the swordsman. Before Brody could counterattack, he was kicked in the face by Gohan; the Commander skidded across the floor from the assault. "Why are you here?! You're supposed to be helping Aang escape!" said Gohan. Brody got up and rushed at his two foes; the Red Spirit quickly jabbed Brody's stomach with the hilt of his sword.

Brody grasped his stomach as he stumbled back a bit. "There is no escape for either of you now!" he said. He then hit Gohan with a green ki blast and rushed at the Swordsman. The Red Spirit started channeling energy into his sword; he swung his blade, creating a curved energy attack that blasted Brody backward. Gohan stared at his ally before asking, "If you could do that, then why didn't you do it earlier?!" The Red Spirit simply shrugged as he took a fighting stance. Brody growled and shot a green blast at the duo, but the Red Spirit positioned his blade horizontally to create an energy barrier that blocked the attack from hitting him or Gohan.

The Red Spirit then charged at Brody and swung his sword forward. Brody dodged the slash but was kicked in the face by his enemy. Brody tried to punch the Red Spirit, but he ducked and uppercut him in the chin. Brody flinched and the Swordsman jumped at him. His sword was brought down on Brody, who caught it before it could touch him. The two stared at each other before they heard Gohan yell, "Duck!" from behind the Swordsman. The Red Spirit let go of his weapon and ducked, allowing Gohan to blast Brody away with an energy attack. Brody quickly recovered and charged at Gohan who charged at him. The two started trading blows before Brody was suddenly bashed in the back by the Red Spirit.

Brody glared at the Swordsman before blasting him with a green energy beam. The Red Spirit was blown into a wall just as Brody jumped at him. Gohan quickly tackled the Commander to the ground, but Brody countered by landing on his hands and body slamming Gohan into the ceiling. The impact made Gohan let go of Brody and fall to the ground. Brody started stomping on the Son of Goku before he was kicked away by the Red Spirit. The Swordsman helped Gohan to his feet as their opponent regained his balance. He then bashed the Red Spirit faster than either fighter could react and punched Gohan into the ground.

Before he could inflict any more damage to the Son of Goku, Brody's chest was slashed by the Red Spirit's sword. Brody stumbled back a bit as blood slid down his armor. He growled before he tackled the Red Spirit, knocking his sword out of his hand and causing him to slide across the floor. Brody attempted to drop kick his foe, but the Red Spirit rolled to the side and got on his feet.

The two were soon trading blows. The Red Spirit punched Brody in the face, and he countered with a kick to the stomach. Brody punched the Red Spirit in the chin and he returned the attack with a kick to Brody's ribs. The Red Spirit palm struck Brody in the chest, which made the Commander glare at him before kicking him away. Brody then approached the Red Spirit and clamped his hands together while raising them above his head; as he prepared to bring them down on his enemy, his back was slashed by Gohan, who was wielding the Red Spirit's blade. Brody winced before he tried to elbow bash Gohan, but the young fighter ducked under the attack and the Commander was kicked away by the Red Spirit.

"I believe this is yours," said Gohan as he handed the sword to its rightful owner.

Brody stood up with an angry expression on his face. He started to channel green ki into his hands as he said, "You're both going to wish you never met me!" He then fired a big green blast at his two opponents. **"KAMEHAMEHA!"** shouted Gohan as he quickly fired a blue beam to counter Brody's attack. The Red Spirit put his sword away and brought his hands together, firing a gold beam to help deflect Brody's blast.

In the Courtyard, fire soldiers were still guarding the fortress while the Avatar and the Blue Spirit were sneaking through the sewers. The two slowly snuck under the vents without being spotted by the guards; the Blue Spirit then stuck out his head and looked around. When the coast was clear, he pointed upward to Aang before the two climbed out of the sewers.

Inside the Prison tower, Admiral Zhao was walking down the hallway with his personal scribe trailing behind him. "I want a full transcription of my speech sent to the Fire Lord," said Zhao to his scribe, who was writing as he spoke. "Along with, glowing testimonials from all the ranking officers present, and…" The two suddenly heard a loud bang and saw an explosion of light that shone throughout the tower. The two fighters were sent flying backward past Zhao while Brody rushed after them.

"Commander Brute, what's going on?!" asked the Admiral.

"A little busy at the moment, Admiral, but…" replied Brody as he pointed to the hallway that had four Firebenders gagged and chained to the ceiling. "You might want to check the Avatar's cell!"

The Admiral frowned before rushing to the Avatar's prison, only to find that the prisoner was gone and a woodland frog was on the floor. Zhao's face showed anger as he quickly left the empty cell. "Sir, shall I hold off sending that speech to the Fire Lord?" asked the scribe as he followed Zhao and the frog followed him.

Gohan and the Red Spirit recovered from their flight and retook their stances. As Commander Brute approached them, he smirked and said, "I can sense that your friends haven't left this fortress yet, which means that in a matter of minutes, every soldier here will be sent to make sure they don't escape!"

The two fighters looked at each other as their opponent stopped in front of them. "Too bad you can't help them when you have your own problems to worry about!" said Brody. He then opened his mouth and yelled, **"OMEGA BLASTER!"** as he fired a large green beam at the two warriors.

Outside, the Avatar and the Blue Spirit ran across the courtyard to the wall where a rope was waiting for them. They started to climb the rope when a loud bell rang throughout the stronghold. "There! On the wall!" cried one of the fire guards when he spotted the two escapees. Another fire guard appeared on top of the wall and cut the rope, causing the duo to fall toward the ground, but Aang used his airbending to soften their descent. The Blue Spirit then brought out his swords and pointed to the open gate, and the two quickly made a run for it.

"THE AVATAR HAS ESCAPED! CLOSE ALL THE GATES IMMEDIATELY!" ordered Admiral Zhao from the balcony.

"Stay close to me!" ordered Aang as he ran ahead of the Blue Spirit. Fire soldiers quickly came and blocked their path, but Aang released a gale force attack that blew the soldiers away, clearing their path to the gate. Aang continued to run to the still-open gate, but two soldiers with spears managed to stop the Blue Spirit from making it. The dual swordsman started fighting off soldiers as more surrounded him.

Aang almost made it to the gate but stopped when he saw his ally being attacked by soldiers. One soldier tried to jab Aang but he quickly dodged the assault and grabbed the spear. The monk air kicked the soldier away and twirled the spear before breaking off the sharp point.

The Avatar ran back to aid the Blue Spirit as the gate closed shut. The Dual Swordsman continued to cut off the sharp points of the spears jabbed at him by soldiers, when the soldiers were suddenly blown away by an air blast from Aang. The Airbender then launched the Blue Spirit into the air and he landed on a wall. The Blue Spirit was immediately surrounded by more fire soldiers. Aang then flew onto the wall by twirling his stick like a propeller, grabbed the Blue Spirit with his legs, and flew toward the gates.

As the soldiers watched the two fly over the fortress, they threw multiple spears at them. The Blue Spirit kicked away and deflected all the spears. Aang was struggling to remain airborne and the squirming from the Blue Spirit made things worse. Eventually, Aang couldn't stay in the air and the two ended up crash landing on the wall.

The two got up and noticed fire soldiers climbing onto the wall to capture them. Aang attempted to grab his stick, but a fire soldier kicked it away. The soldier tried to swing his sword at Aang but he swiftly dodged the slashes. The Blue Spirit then grabbed the soldier and threw him off the wall. The Dual Swordsman then retrieved his blades as more soldiers approached them, and Aang quickly blew them away with air blasts. The soldiers on the ground soon brought three ladders and started to climb up the wall.

The Blue Spirit focused on knocking the soldiers off one ladder while Aang blasted the soldiers off the other two ladders. The Airbender jumped to one ladder and air blasted the soldiers on it away, causing the soldiers on the second ladder to flinch at the force of Aang's attack. They looked up in time to see Aang take a deep breath. The soldier on top screamed when he realized what was coming, seconds before Aang lung punched the fire soldiers off the ladder. The Blue Spirit had just knocked another soldier off the ladder when Aang came to him with two ladders.

"Take this!" said Aang as he handed a ladder to his ally. "Jump on my back!"

The Avatar carried the ladder while using the one with fire soldiers on it to move across the courtyard. The Blue Spirit quickly jumped onto his back as the ladder tipped over. The soldiers watched as the two passed over their heads toward the fortress gate. Aang switched ladders as they got closer to the gate. "Give me the next one!" said Aang. The Blue Spirit handed him the last ladder needed to complete their escape, but before they could make it across, a Firebender set the last ladder on fire. The two were forced to jump off early; as they sailed toward the final gate, Aang tried to grab onto the wall but his hands slipped off.

The Blue Spirit managed to grab the wall with one hand but couldn't hold on for long and eventually had to let go. The two fell back to the ground, and the Dual Swordsman quickly brought his blades as they prepared to fight their way out. There was a sudden eruption from inside the prison tower, and the Red Spirit and Gohan were soon sent flying out of the tower into the courtyard right beside Aang and the Blue Spirit. They got up and took their stances once again. Gohan's forehead was bleeding along with his mouth and wrists. The Red Spirit's right arm had a small wound on it and his mask was cracked diagonally.

Commander Brute suddenly jumped from the tower into the courtyard with his hands charged with green energy. "Now, all of you will face oblivion!" cried Brody as he fired a green energy blast while four Firebenders followed his lead and shot fire at the four warriors. Aang quickly got in front of everyone and blocked the attacks with an air bubble.

"Hold your fire!" ordered Zhao as he and the Cornel approached the escapees. The Commander and the soldiers immediately stopped firing at the four. "The Avatar must be captured alive!"

Upon hearing this, the Blue Spirit placed his blades at Aang's neck, threatening to kill him if the gates weren't open. "What are you…?" Gohan was about to ask before the Red Spirit put his own blade to the Son of Goku's throat. Admiral Zhao stared at the two Spirits, unable to see their faces, so he couldn't tell if they were bluffing or not. Not wanting to lose his prisoner, Zhao said, "Open the gate." with a stern voice.

"Admiral, what are you doing?" whispered the Cornel.

"Let them out, now!" ordered Zhao again.

The gate was soon opened and the four slowly exited the fortress. Brody growled in anger as his target had gotten away from them. "Now what, Admiral?!" he asked.

"How could you let them go?" asked the Cornel.

"A situation like this requires… precision," said the Admiral with a smirk.

The Spirits kept their weapons at the brothers' necks as they backed away from the fortress. They moved closer to a fork in the road while still carefully watching the fortress. On top of one of the towers, Zhao stood calmly as he watched the four move further away from the stronghold. He looked over to his left where two Yuyan archers were taking aim. "Do you both have clear shots?" asked Zhao. The archers responded by closing one eye each. "Knock out the thieves," ordered Zhao as the Cornel and the Commander stood behind him. "I'll deliver them to the Fire Lord, along with the Avatar and the young Energybender."

The Archers let go of their arrows, and in a matter of seconds, both Spirits were hit in the head and knocked unconscious. Aang and Gohan turned in shock as the Spirits released them and fell flat on their backs. Their masks were still covering their faces, but the strap was cut, making it easy to remove. Aang immediately created a wall of smoke to shield the four of them.

"Quick, recover the Avatar and the Energybender!" ordered Zhao.

Fire Soldiers immediately ran through the gate toward the smokescreen. Aang slowly grabbed the mask of the Blue Spirit and lifted it up, and he gasped when he saw the face of the Son of Ozai, Prince Zuko. Aang heard Gohan gasp and looked to see that he had removed the Red Spirit's mask and saw the face of Prince Trunks. The two backed away and turned to run but immediately stopped. They looked back at the Fire soldiers approaching, then at the unconscious fire princes. The Brothers expressed worry on their faces before they looked at each other and nodded.

When the soldiers made it to the smokescreen, it slowly faded away, revealing nothing as the four escapees were now gone. They looked in all directions, but they could not tell which direction they ran off in. At the Fortress, Admiral Zhao's face turned very angry when they heard a woodland frog croak. The frog jumped onto the wall and immediately jumped down. Brody growled as he thought, _"You haven't seen the last of me, Kakabrat! We'll meet again!"_

The next morning, the fire princes awoke to see that they were now in the woods, lying on their backs while Aang and Gohan sat beside them. They recalled being knocked out by arrows and were surprised to see that they still managed to escape Zhao's fortress. The boys spoke in sadness while the princes simply listened.

"You know the worst part about being born over a hundred years ago is?" Aang asked the princes. "We miss all the friends we used to hang out with."

"Before this war started, we used to have this friend named Kuzon," said Gohan.

"We used to always visit him. The three of us, we got in and out of so much trouble together. He was one of the best friends I ever had, and he was from the fire nation like you two," said Aang as he looked at the princes. "If we knew each other back then, do you think the four of us could've been friends too?"

The Fire Princes didn't respond to what was being said, they only listened to the brothers.

"You know, whenever I look at people, I don't usually see them as enemies, I see them as potential friends," said Gohan. "I especially see that with you two. It's just that we're from different nations that we're forced to pick a side in this war and we ended up on opposing sides. I keep thinking that if this was the past lives Trunks and I had, we could have all been friends on the same side."

The Princes suddenly got up and launched their attacks at the brothers; they instinctively dodged the attacks before fleeing. The Princes watched their enemies retreat before looking at each other while thinking about what Aang and Gohan said.

The Avatar and Gohan were soon at the swamp, collecting frozen frogs to cure the water tribe siblings. "Are you sure these will cure them?" asked Gohan. "That's what the crazy herbalist said," replied Aang.

The Fire Princes finally made it back to their ship. They passed General Iroh, who was sitting on the main deck with his horn. "Where have you been, boys?" asked Iroh. "You missed music night; Lieutenant Jee sang a stirring love song."

"We're going to bed, no disturbances," said Zuko to his uncle.

"Everything alright, boys?" asked Iroh.

"It's just been a long night, Iroh," said Trunks. "We just need some rest."

The retired general expected their answer and went back to playing his musical instrument.

The Brothers came back to their campsite, which was now full of random items. "Uh, where did all this stuff come from?" asked Gohan. "Don't ask," replied Katara. Aang went over to Sokka and put a frozen frog in his mouth. "Suck on these, they'll make you feel better," said Aang. He then put one in Katara's mouth and collapsed onto Appa's tail. Gohan sighed heavily and sat beside his pet dragon. Icarus licked his face and Gohan petted his head in sadness.

"Aang, Gohan, how was your trip?" asked Sokka as he sucked on the frozen frog. "Did you guys make any new friends?"

"No, I don't think we did," said Aang as he rolled over.

In Prince Zuko's chamber, the Son of Ozai was lying awake in his bed. He looked over to the fire nation symbol on his wall before turning over to get some rest.

In the ruins, Gohan lay against Icarus and held up his weapon; he partly unsheathed his sword and stared at his reflection.

In his own chamber, Prince Trunks was looking at his own reflection from his blade; he then closed his sword and lay down on his bed. _"Maybe we could've been friends if things were different,"_ he thought as he closed his eyes.

Back at the ruins, the Water Tribe Siblings were still sucking on the ice cold amphibians; Sokka's face expressed delight from the taste of the frog. "Mmmm, this is tasty! Mmmm!" said Sokka. The frog eventually thawed out and began struggling to remove itself from Sokka's mouth. The Tribesman noticed this and immediately spit it out, while Katara gasped when she saw a frog in her mouth seconds before it hopped away.

The teens started coughing and spitting in disgust and Sokka started licking Appa's fur while Momo chased after the frogs.

 **A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers, favorites, and followers. Some of you may think that the blue haired girl from the previous chapter is a love interest for Trunks, but she's not. I already have a love interest for Trunks in mind, but you won't know who it is until I reveal it, unless someone figures it out. Until we meet again, BBFN AntiHero out!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Ok, time to get back to business. Thank you to all my readers that have favored and or followed this fanfic and sent me a review or PM. Also, I've adopted a fanfiction from another writer. Once I've figured out how to continue the original writer's work, I will get to working on that story right away while still writing Five Elements. For this chapter, I've put in two special surprises that I think you'll like very much…**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own Dragon Ball Z or Avatar the Last Airbender**

 **Chapter 13- The Fortunetellers**

The Gang was camping by a lake in the sun. The four teens were sitting around a pile of sticks with their tent still set up when a big fish suddenly splashed out of the lake.

"Look!" cried Katara as she pointed to the lake.

The fish jumped out of the water again and looked toward the Gang. It smiled mockingly before diving back into the water, which seemed to annoy Sokka.

"He's taunting us!" said the tribesman before telling the fish, "You are so gonna be dinner!"

Sokka ran to fetch his fishing rod from his tent. He swung it back and forth as the fish continued to taunt them. When he noticed the rod's line wasn't entering the lake, he looked at his fishing rod and asked, "Hey, where's the fishing line?"

"Oh, I didn't think you would need it, Sokka," said Aang. He then held up a necklace bearing a red flower for his friends to see.

Sokka inspected his once fishing line and groaned. "Aw, it's all tangled!"

"Not tangled. Woven," corrected Aang as he got to his feet. "I made you a necklace, Katara. I thought since you lost your other one…" He held up the necklace and smiled at the Waterbender.

Katara smiled back as she approached the monk. "Thanks, Aang. I love it," said Katara as she took the necklace.

"Great, Aang. Maybe instead of saving the world, you can go into the jewelry making business," Sokka suggested sarcastically.

"I don't see why I can't do both," said Aang.

The Tribesman then spotted the fish emerging from the water and submerging again. He threw his fishing rod at the lake, hoping to spear the fish, but it jumped out of the lake, unharmed.

"Stop taunting me!" growled Sokka. He then pulled out his dagger and rushed into the lake while Aang watched with boredom. Sokka jabbed at the water, missing the fish and losing his dagger in the process. Gohan watched in amusement as Sokka was being humiliated by a fish. "You know, I can help you catch that se tu if it's too much for you, Sokka," offered the Energybender.

"No! I'm going to catch it!" replied Sokka. "I'm not gonna let some fish embarrass me!" He dove for the fish, only to miss it again.

"So, how do I look?" asked Katara, getting Aang's attention. The Avatar turned toward the Waterbender and was immediately mesmerized by her appearance.

Unsure of what to answer, Aang nervously pulled on his shirt collar while saying, "You mean all of you or just your neck? I mean, because both look great!"

Sokka then emerged from the lake with the se tu in his grasp. "Smoochie, Smoochie, someone's in love!" teased Sokka while making faces at the fish: the se tu then slapped Sokka in the face with its tail and dove back into the lake.

"I…well…" said an embarrassed Aang.

"Stop teasing him, Sokka. Aang's just a good friend," said Katara as she patted the monk's head before petting the lemur. "A sweet little guy. Just like Momo."

"Thanks," said Aang, disappointed.

Sokka finally gave up on catching the se tu and approached his companions, soaking wet, while carrying an angry face. Gohan soon walked past them and stepped into the lake. He pulled out his sword and carefully positioned it as he stared at the water; he then stabbed the water with his blade and pulled it out, showing the now caught se tu. Gohan turned to his friends and smiled triumphantly, but Sokka just glared at him and muttered, "Show off."

The Gang then heard a loud growling noise, which the lemur bat flew toward. Aang followed his pet onto a large boulder where he saw the uproar taking place. "Someone's being attacked by a Platypus Bear!" cried Aang as he pointed. True to the Avatar's words, a Platypus Bear was walking on its hind legs toward a wandering man. The Traveler showed no sign of fear as the beast stood before him. The Platypus Bear swung one of its paws at the man, but he simply ducked the strike.

The beast swung again before attempting to swat the man with its tail, but both attacks proved futile. The Platypus Bear roared and swung at the man again, and the wanderer dodged again when he noticed the Avatar watching after leaping onto another boulder behind the wild animal. "Well, hello there," greeted the man as he dodged another slash. "Nice day, isn't it?"

"Make noise! He'll run off!" instructed Aang.

Katara, Sokka, and Gohan soon appeared beside the monk. "No, play dead! He'll lose interest!" said Sokka.

The beast swung its paw again and the man calmly dodged it. "Whoa, close one!" laughed the man.

"Run downhill! Then climb a tree!" suggested Katara.

"No, punch him in the bill!" said Sokka.

"And then run in zigzags!" said Aang.

"Toss him some food!" said Gohan.

"No need, it's going to be fine!" assured the man. The Platypus Bear roared again and swung at his prey once more. The man swiftly ducked the attack, and the resulting slash cut off a chunk of wood from the tree behind the man. The Gang grew worried as Aang suddenly jumped in front of the beast. The monk unleashed a small air wave that halted the beast in its tracks. "Whoa, there!" said Aang as he took a fighting stance. The Platypus Bear stood tall and roared again; Appa suddenly came behind it and roared at its back. The Beast was so startled, it laid an egg out of fear before leaving by swimming down the lake.

Katara and Gohan met up with Aang while Sokka picked up the Platypus Bear egg in delight. "Mmmm, lunch." said Sokka. He sniffed the egg before turning to address the traveler. "Lucky for you, we came along."

"Thanks, but everything was already under control," the man assured the teens. "Not to worry. Aunt Wu predicted I'd have a safe journey."

"Aunt who?" asked Aang.

"No, Aunt Wu. She is the fortuneteller from my village," explained the man. "Awful nice knowing your future."

"Wow, it must be," said Katara. "That explains why you were so calm."

"But the fortuneteller was wrong! You didn't have a safe journey; you were almost killed!" argued Sokka.

"But I wasn't," said the man.

"He's got a point," agreed Gohan.

"Alright, have a good one." The Wanderer bowed to the teens and began his journey back home. The man then stopped and turned back to the group. "Oh, and Aunt Wu said if I met any travelers to give them this." He handed Aang a wrapped item and continued his journey.

"Maybe we should go see Aunt Wu and learn our fortunes. It could be fun," suggested Katara. The Avatar started rapidly unwrapping the item as the siblings spoke.

"Oh, come on. Fortunetelling is just nonsense," said Sokka.

"What did he give you, Aang?" asked Gohan when the monk finished unwrapping his gift, which turned out to be an umbrella. He opened it and held it above his head. "What do you know? An umbrella," said Aang. The sky suddenly turned dark and rain started to pour as thunder was heard. Gohan quickly got under the umbrella with Aang while Katara created a shield of water.

"That's peculiar," said Gohan.

"That proves it," said Katara as she joined the boys under the umbrella.

"No it doesn't! You can't _really_ tell the future!" argued Sokka as he held the egg above his head.

"I guess you're not _really_ getting wet then," said Katara smugly.

The Platypus Bear egg suddenly slipped out of Sokka's grasp into the air. He tried to catch it when it was descending but it landed on his head and splattered. The Gang then started trekking toward Aunt Wu's village; the three benders stayed sheltered under the umbrella while Sokka walked crossly in the rain, getting completely soaked.

"Come on Sokka. You have to admit telling the traveler to give us an umbrella just before it rains means that this Aunt Wu can really predict the future," urged Gohan.

"Of course she predicted it was going to rain. The sky's been gray all day," replied Sokka.

"Just admit that you might be wrong and you can come under the umbrella," said Katara.

"Look, I'm going to predict the future now," said Sokka. "It's going to keep drizzling."

After he said that, the rain continued to fall. "See?" asked a cocky Sokka. Suddenly the rain stopped and the sky cleared completely. The three benders looked up from under the umbrella and the immediate weather change.

"Not everyone has the gift, Sokka," said Aang.

Aang, Gohan and Katara resumed walking while Sokka stood there in disbelief. Appa then came up to him and started to shake himself dry, soaking Sokka in the process. "Agh!" complained the tribesman. The Gang eventually approached a small village that was located at the base of a large mountain. They entered the gate and Turkey Ducks quacked at them as they passed. The teens were greeted by a man in a black robe.

"Aunt Wu is expecting you," said the man as he bowed.

"Really?" asked Katara.

Sokka scoffed as the Gang entered Aunt Wu's house. They removed their shoes and stood at the door. A girl in a pink robe approached them. "My name is Meng and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant," the girl introduced herself. Her eyes suddenly grew wide when she gazed upon the Airbender. She scanned him from feet to head as she became mesmerized by Aang's appearance. "Well, hello there," Meng greeted with pleasure to the monk.

"Hello," greeted Aang as he rubbed his nose.

"Can I get you some tea or some of Aunt Wu's special bean curd puffs?" Meng offered the Gang as they sat down on the floor pillows.

"I'll try a curd puff," said Sokka.

"Me too," said Gohan.

"Just a second," said Meng to the teens. She then bent down in front of Aang and asked, "So what's your name?"

"Aang," the monk answered dryly.

"That rhymes with Meng!" said the girl with joy. "And you've got some pretty big ears, don't you?"

"I guess," Aang said awkwardly.

"Don't be modest, they're huge!" exclaimed Sokka, making Aang glare at him while hiding his ears.

"Well, Aang, it's very nice to meet you," said Meng. "Very nice." She smiled slyly as she walked away. She snuck a glance at the monk before she left.

"Likewise," said Aang.

"I can't believe we're here in the house of nonsense," complained Sokka.

"Try to keep an open mind, Sokka. There are things in this world that just can't be explained," said Katara. "Wouldn't it be nice to have some insight in your future?"

"It would be nice to have some bean curd puffs." said Sokka simply.

A woman had just left Aunt Wu's room and ran into Meng who was carrying a tray with two bowls of bean curd puffs. "Oh, Meng! Aunt Wu says I'm going to meet my true love. He's going to give me a rare panda lily," said the woman.

"That's so romantic!" sighed Meng before she looked at Aang. "I wonder if my true love will give _me_ a rare flower."

"Good luck with that!" said Aang.

"Is that the big-eared guy who Aunt Wu predicted you'd marry?" laughed the woman.

Meng blushed as she pushed the woman away. Meng walked toward the gang while staring at Aang. She suddenly tripped and almost fell over, but Aang quickly caught her by the hands. The two stared at each other for a minute before Meng blushed and placed the tray in Aang's lap. "Enjoy your snack," said Meng nervously before she hurried away. Sokka quickly swiped the tray of food from the Avatar and picked up a curd puff. The four teens were then greeted by an elderly woman in a yellow robe.

"Welcome, young travelers. Now, who's next? Don't be shy," said Aunt Wu.

Aang and Gohan turned to Sokka who looked away with disinterest before looking toward Katara. "I guess that's me," said the Waterbender as she stood up. The two ladies left, leaving the men to themselves. Sokka tossed a curd puff into his mouth. "Mm. Not bad, not bad!" said Sokka delightfully. Gohan picked up some and tried them. "These are really good," said Gohan. "You should try one, Aang." Sokka offered the bowl to the monk, but he politely refused.

"I'm good on puffs," said Aang.

Sokka shrugged and went back to stuffing his face along with Gohan. The Avatar looked over at the direction the women went off in with curiosity. "So, what do you think they're talking about back there?' asked Aang as he scratched his head.

"Boring stuff, I'm sure," replied Sokka as he picked up a cup of tea. "Love, who she's going to marry, how many babies she's going to have."

Aang tensed at Sokka's answer, but tried to act calm. "Yeah, dumb stuff like that…" He started to bite down on his fingers as he grew more anxious.

"Are you ok, Aang?" asked Gohan when he saw Aang's uneasiness.

"Just fine," said Aang before quickly saying, "I need to use the bathroom!"

The Airbender got up and hurried away. Gohan raised an eyebrow at this and stood up. "I'll be right back. Save me some puffs," said the Ki bender before he walked after his brother. Sokka rested onto the floor and tossed another puff into his mouth. Momo quickly snatched the bowl of puffs just as Sokka reached for another one, only to touch the floor. Aang tiptoed down the hallway until he reached the room where Aunt Wu and Katara were. He pressed his ear against the door and listened.

"Your palms are so smooth. Do you use moisturizer?" Aunt Wu asked Katara.

"Actually, I have this special seaweed lotion. I can get you some if you want," said Katara.

Aang stuck his tongue out in disgust. Gohan suddenly came up to him and whispered, "What are you doing? It's not nice to eavesdrop."

"Shh," was all Aang said.

"So, do you see anything interesting in my love line?" Katara asked the fortuneteller. Aang grew more anxious as he listened carefully.

"I feel great romance for you. The man you are going to marry," replied Aunt Wu.

"Tell me more!" said Katara tensely. The two brothers leaned against the wall to hear Katara's prediction.

"I can see that he's a very powerful bender," replied Aunt Wu.

Hearing this prediction, Aang's face grew a roguish smile. The monk leaped into the air with joy. "Did you hear that?" Aang asked his brother. "Yeah, he's supposed to be some powerful bender," said Gohan. "That could be anyone in the world."

Aang frowned at Gohan's words. "It's obviously going to be me."

"How can you be sure that it's you?" asked Gohan.

"Because in the end, there's no bender more powerful than the Avatar, and that's me," said Aang proudly.

The two brothers quickly left the hallway before they could be discovered. They returned to the waiting area where Sokka was picking his teeth. When he noticed Aang's look of joy, he stated, "Looks like someone had a good bathroom break."

"Yeah ... when I was in there ..." Aang started to explain, but Sokka cut him off.

"I don't even want to know!" he replied.

Aunt Wu and Katara then appeared in the waiting room. "Who's next?" asked the Fortuneteller.

The Water tribesman stood up and said, "Let's get this over with."

"Your future is full of struggle and anguish. Most of it, self inflicted," Aunt Wu told Sokka half heartedly.

"But, you didn't read my palms or anything!" Sokka protested.

"I didn't need to. It's written all over your face," explained Aunt Wu. Sokka simply stared at her in disgust and went back to picking his teeth. The Fortuneteller then turned to Gohan and asked, "How about you, young man?" Before Gohan could answer her, a voice called out to Aunt Wu and said, "Aunt Wu, wait. Let me have this one." Soon a tall elderly woman with pink hair, wearing a black robe and a pointy hat walked into the waiting room. "Lady Baba! What a pleasant surprise," Aunt Wu greeted the woman.

"Who's she supposed to be?" asked Sokka.

Aunt Wu glared at Sokka before answering, "This is Madam Baba, also known as the All-Seeing Crone. She's my mentor in fortunetelling and she's much better at it than me."

"Well, she certainly exceeds you in age." joked Sokka.

"Madam Baba is an incredible Fortuneteller and is very spiritual!" said Aunt Wu defensively. "She's even known to be psychic!"

"Thank you, Wu. Now, if you don't mind, I'll handle the fortunetelling of the spiky haired boy," said Madam Baba.

"Oh, of course, milady. I don't mind at all," Aunt Wu replied.

"Alright then, Gohan, if you'll come with me," said Madam Baba.

"How did you know my name?" asked Gohan.

"I wouldn't be much of a psychic if I didn't," said Baba.

The two then left the waiting room with the others staring at them with curiosity.

"See Sokka, that Lady Baba is proof that fortunetelling isn't nonsense," said Katara.

"Lucky guess," said Sokka.

Aunt Wu then pointed to Aang and said, "You there, come with me." The Avatar followed the Fortuneteller to another room. "Your friend must be a very special child," Aunt Wu said to the monk.

"What makes you say that?" asked Aang.

"It's very rare that Lady Baba would come out to predict anyone's future. Unlike me, she doesn't do it for free, but her service is worth the price," explained Aunt Wu.

Meanwhile, Madam Baba had led Gohan to her personal chambers. When they went inside, they sat down on the floor. In between them stood a crystal ball the size of an airball. Baba waved her hands around the ball and it started to glow. "Whoa," said Gohan.

"Now, before we begin you should know that I don't work for free," said Baba.

"Well, I don't have any money to give you," said Gohan.

"Normally, I would charge my clients with money, but for you, I'll make an exception." said Baba. "When the time comes, you have to pay me with something else. Now, what would you like to know about in your future?"

Gohan thought for a moment before saying, "I'm not sure. I don't really want to know my future that much. How about, showing me what I'll be like in… uh, twenty years."

"Okay then." said Baba. "Spirits hear my plea; show the future of the fighter before me!" The crystal ball began to glow brighter until there was a clear image on the ball. The background looked like a wide meadow surrounded by trees and boulders. The sky was blue and the wind was blowing. Two blurs suddenly appeared on the ball. The blurs were clashing against each other, moving back and forth as they shook the earth. The two finally stopped fighting, allowing Gohan to see them clearly.

The blurs were two people; one was a man while the other was a girl. The man was wearing a navy blue Gi, a red headband, red belt, red wristbands, red straps around his ankles, black shoes, and a white cape. The man had black spiky hair that defied gravity except for a single strand. The man had black eyes and a scar across his right eye. This man also had a monkey tail sticking out of his back. "Is that man me, in the future?" asked Gohan.

Baba nodded and the two looked back at the ball. The girl there had black hair as well, but her eyes were brown. She wore a long sleeved purple shirt with a pink shirt over it, a pink belt, purple pants, and back shoes. She also had a tail sticking out of her back. Gohan's future self approached the girl and patted her head while smiling. The little girl smiled back and hugged adult Gohan. Soon a woman wearing the same type of armor as the Kyoshi warriors came up to them. The woman kissed the little girl on the forehead before pecking adult Gohan on the lips.

"Are they my future wife and child?" asked Gohan, and Baba nodded in response once again. _"My wife is wearing the same armor as the Kyoshi warriors, is that Suki? Can't be, her face paint and hairstyle is different, unless that's her future self,"_ thought Gohan.

Meanwhile, with Aang, Aunt Wu led the Avatar to another chamber. There were four pillars to support the ceiling, four cushions, and a small flame in the center of the room. The two walked over to a big vase filled with bones. "This is the most reliable way of telling your fortune. The bones never lie," explained Aunt Wu. She then gestured to the bones and said, "Go on, pick one." Aang picked up a bone and the two sit by the fire. "Now, throw it into the fire." Aang tossed his bone into the fire while Aunt Wu spoke. "The heat makes cracks in the bones and I read the cracks to tell your destiny."

After a few moments, a large crack appeared on the bone, splitting it in half. "Wow, that's a big crack," said Aang. The bone cracked a few more times, which surprised the fortuneteller. "I've never seen this before!" she said. The bone eventually exploded and the flames shot toward the ceiling. "Oh my!" gasped Aunt Wu as she and Aang shielded their faces. Tiny pieces of the bone were laid around the fire and Aunt Wu read them while captivated. "Your destiny! This is incredible. You will be involved in a great battle, an awesome conflict between the forces of good and evil. A battle whose outcome will determine the fate of the whole world!"

"Yeah yeah, I knew that already," said Aang impassively. "But did it say anything about a girl?"

"A girl? You want to know about love?" asked Aunt Wu.

"Yes!" replied Aang.

"Sorry, I didn't see anything," said Aunt Wu. Aang started to look disappointed, so the fortuneteller suddenly said, "Well, look! I must've missed something. Right here." She picked up a bone piece and examined it. "It says: trust your heart and you will be with the one you love."

"Really? Thank you, Aunt Wu!" said Aang with joy. The Avatar then left the chamber and Aunt Wu placed her hand on her head in anxiety.

Back with Gohan, the all seeing crone put her hands down and the crystal ball stopped glowing. "Did you enjoy the insight of your future?" she asked the young fighter.

"It was nice to see that I have a future family," replied Gohan. He then thought about something, but didn't speak out.

Baba noticed this and said, "I sense there's something on your mind. What is it?"

"Well, I was wondering, do you have any idea what this is?" asked Gohan as he pulled the small four starred ball he found days ago. "And what it has to do with me?"

Baba observed the orb; her eyes grew wide as she recognized it. "A Dragon Ball! So they really have returned to us!"

"Dragon Ball?" asked Gohan.

"The Dragon Balls are seven mystic orbs that are hidden all over the world. The one you have is the four star ball. If someone were to gather all seven of the orbs and put them together, they would be able to summon the Dragon God Shenron, whose spirit rests in the orbs. Once Shenron is summoned, the person who summoned him would be granted any wish!" Baba explained.

"Any wish?" asked Gohan.

"Any two wishes to be exact," corrected Baba. "So long as it is not beyond Shenron's power, he can grant that wish. Like immortality, eternal youth, riches, power, or even world domination."

Gohan stared at the Dragon Ball in his hand; he could hardly believe this small orb could be the key to getting anything through one wish. Then a thought came to him. "What happens after your wish is granted?" he asked.

"The Dragon disappears and the Dragon Balls are scattered across the earth," replied Baba. "After that, they turn to stone and become unusable for one year."

"Am I supposed to collect these Dragon Balls? Is that why this one feels familiar to me? Do I collect them to summon the Dragon in order to help Aang save the world?" asked Gohan. "Can you show me if I'll summon the Dragon God in the future?"

"Very well, but only because I'm curious about that, too," said Baba. She waved her arms and her crystal ball started to glow. Another image appeared on the ball; it showed Gohan with a shining light at his feet. The light stretched into the sky until it formed a giant dragon that had red eyes, two large wings, and an incredibly long twisted body. Gohan looked amazed at the appearance of the Dragon while Baba seemed frightened by it. _"Is that…no it can't be,"_ thought Baba.

The crystal ball glow then faded and the Ki bender looked at the psychic, who was still looking terrified. "Are you alright, lady Baba?" asked Gohan.

Baba snapped out of her trance and looked at Gohan. "I'm fine. Looks like you will gather the Dragon balls in the future, but the purpose behind your mission is up to you."

"Thank you, Lady Baba," said Gohan. He then got up and left Baba alone in her room.

" _Your future is so bizarre, Gohan, that even I can't fully predict it,"_ thought Baba.

After Gohan met up with his friends, the four exited Aunt Wu's building and started to walk down the street with Appa and Icarus behind them.

"Well, now you got to see for yourselves how fortune telling is just a big, stupid hoax," said Sokka.

"You're just saying that because you're gonna make yourself unhappy your whole life," teased Katara.

"That woman is crazy!" argued Sokka. "My life will be calm and happy and joyful!" The tribesman kicked a rock in anger; it bounced off a sign and struck him in the head, causing him to fall to the ground in pain. He raised a finger and protested, "That doesn't prove anything."

"Well, I like my predictions," said Katara. "Certain things are gonna turn out very well."

"They sure are," agreed Aang.

"Why? What did she tell you?" Katara asked the monk.

"Some stuff, you'll find out," said Aang.

"What about you Gohan? How'd it go with Madam Baba?" Katara asked the Ki bender.

"I learned some very interesting things about my future," replied Gohan. "And I learned a few other things too."

"That's great!" said Katara.

The four wandered over to the village courtyard where a crowd of people were standing around. Apagoda-shaped structure was in the center of the courtyard. The people were all staring up at the sky. "What's up with the sky?" asked Katara.

"We're waiting for Aunt Wu to come and read the clouds to predict the fate of the whole village," said the traveler they met earlier.

"That cloud kind of looks like a fluffy bunny," Aang stated.

"You'd better hope that's not a bunny!" said the traveler. "A fluffy bunny cloud forecasts doom and destruction!"

"Do you even hear yourself?" Sokka asked the man.

"The cloud reading will tell us if Mt. Makapu will remain dormant for another year or if it will erupt," explained a woman as she pointed to the volcano.

"We used to have a tradition once a year of going up to the mountain to check the volcano ourselves. But, ever since Aunt Wu moved to the village twenty years ago, we have a tradition of _not_ doing that."

"I can't believe you would trust your lives to that crazy old woman's superstition," said Sokka.

"Shhh! She's coming!" said Katara.

Aunt Wu and her guard came up the stairwell and walked towards the structure. The crowd aside from Sokka clapped and cheered as Aunt Wu and her guard passed them. Meng then appeared beside Aang.

"Hey Aang, don't you think that cloud looks like a flower?"she asked the Avatar.

"Huh? Sure, I guess," said Aang. He then pushed her aside and spoke to the Waterbender. "Hey, Katara, don't you think that cloud look like a flower?"

"Shhh!" Katara told her friend.

Aunt Wu stood on the pagoda, took a breath, and spread out her arms as she stared at the sky. "Bending arrow cloud… good crops this year. Nice big harvest," Aunt Wu predicted. "Darn good news!" said a farmer as he hugged his wife. "Wavy moon shaped cloud…let's see, gonna be a great year for twins," said Aunt Wu. The twins (Poi and Ping) high fived while saying, "Yes!" "And a cumulus cloud with a twisted nob coming off the end of it…" said the fortuneteller as she looked up at the sky one final time. "The village will _not_ be destroyed by the volcano this year!" The crowd cheered ecstatically at the final prediction.

"Since I got you here, uh, there's something I want to tell you. I like you, but more than normal," Aang attempted to confess to Katara, but she was too captivated by Aunt Wu's prediction to hear what he said. The Water tribe girl quickly left, much to Aang's disappointment. "Never mind," sighed Aang. Momo's ears drooped in sadness as he sat on Aang's head. Gohan noticed his brother's depression and went to comfort him. "Don't give up, Aang. She'll come around in time," said Gohan as he put his hand on Aang's shoulder. The Airbender smiled at the Ki bender, who smiled back.

Aunt Wu's guard suddenly came up to Gohan and said, "Please follow me. Lady Baba wishes to see you, Gohan," Gohan raised an eyebrow in suspicion but followed the guard.

Katara went back to Aunt Wu's building and came up to her door. She knocked on the door and Aunt Wu answered it. "Hi, Aunt Wu. Sorry to bother you," greeted Katara.

"Anytime," said Aunt Wu.

"About this man I'm suppose to marry…" Katara started to say; she then blushed and spoke anxiously. "Is he going to be handsome? I hope he's tall!"

"Ah, you want another reading," said Aunt Wu.

"Yes please!" said Katara. The two women entered Aunt Wu's chamber for another session and closed the door behind them.

With Gohan, the guard brought the young fighter to a small house in a wide area that was surrounded by trees and sat beside the river. Next to the house was a circular platform. Madam Baba and a small, old man wearing a mask were waiting in the ring. The man's mask resembled the face of a cat. His clothes consisted of a long sleeve black under shirt, a sleeveless orange attire, black pants, and black shoes. His most interesting feature was the gold ring above his head. The guard led Gohan onto the platform before bowing to Baba and leaving.

"You wanted to see me lady Baba?" asked Gohan.

"Welcome, Gohan. Do you know why I called you here?" asked Baba.

"Does this have to do with the fortune you gave me?" asked the Ki bender.

"Somewhat. Remember when I told you that I don't usually work for free?" asked Baba. "Well, there are two things I live for: money and fights. And since you don't have a lot of money, I've organized a friendly match between you and my strongest fighter."

Gohan looked at his would be opponent and couldn't help but be a little concerned. "Are you sure this guy's a strong fighter? He doesn't look like much of a challenge," said Gohan.

"You say that even though you fought Roshi not so long ago? And he's much older that this fellow," said Baba.

"You know Master Roshi?" asked Gohan.

"Of course, he is my brother after all," replied Baba. "Now, will you accept the challenge in order to pay for your fortune?"

Gohan thought for a moment and said, "Alright, I could use a good fight anyways."

"Excellent," said Baba. "I'll referee the match. The both of you will duke it out until one of you surrenders or is knocked out of bounds. Let me exit the ring so that the two of you can fight freely."

The fortuneteller quickly left the ring, leaving Gohan and his opponent inside. The son of Goku unclipped his sheathed blade and tossed it outside the ring. "Ah, that takes a load off," said Gohan as he flexed his muscles. "Greetings Gohan, I hope you're ready because I won't go easy on you," said the masked fighter. "I don't want it to be easy, mister… uh?" said Gohan, asking for the fighter's name. "You may call me Gramps if you like," said the fighter. He then bowed to the Ki bender and took a fighting stance. "Now show me what you can do!"

Gohan bowed back to his opponent and took his own fighting position. "Here I come, Gramps!" said the boy as he charged at the masked fighter. Gohan started off with a punch to his opponent's face, but Gramps dodged it. He then countered with a hand chop strike that Gohan dodged. The masked fighter continued jabbing at the young boy who was evading all of his blows. Gohan then blocked one of the strikes and tried to punch his challenger, but Gramps grabbed Gohan's fist and the two started to push against each other.

The two eventually separated and retook their stances. Gohan jumped at the masked fighter, attempting to kick him. Gramps ducked and countered with an elbow bash to Gohan's back, sending him flying a few inches away from himself. Gohan landed on his back and quickly turned over, just in time to avoid the fist coming at him from Gramps. Gramps started rapidly punching at the boy; Gohan avoided every blow and grabbed both of Gramps' fists before double kicking him away.

The son of Goku stood up and rushed at his opponent one more time. The two warriors were then trading blows. Gramps gained the upper hand by palm striking Gohan in the chest. Gohan flinched, allowing Gramps to kick him toward the edge of the ring. Gohan quickly regained his footing and jumped over his challenger. He then nailed him in the back with an elbow bash before grabbing his shirt and tossing him away. Gramps quickly caught himself and retook his fighting stance. Gohan fired a ki blast at the masked fighter; he easily deflected it and rushed at Gohan. The young fighter braced himself for impact. Gramps threw a punch at Gohan; he stood still and absorbed the attack. "Nice punch, now it's my turn!" said Gohan as he reared his fist back.

He thrust his fist forward, aiming for the masked fighter's stomach. He was surprised when his fist went right through his opponent's stomach. "What the heck?" said Gohan when the image of Gramps suddenly faded away. "Looking for me?" asked Gramps as he appeared behind Gohan. The spiky haired teen quickly turned around and was a nailed in the chin with an uppercut. Gohan was sent flying toward the edge of the platform, where he landed on his back. He quickly stood up and unleashed a strong energy wave that knocked Gramps off his feet. Gohan jumped in the air and kicked the masked opponent in the gut.

The two landed on their feet, feeling slightly tired. They took a few breaths and staggered a bit. "Let's see if you can take this!" said Gohan as he placed his hands above his head. **"MASENKOHA!"** He fired a yellow beam at his challenger. The masked fighter jumped back to avoid it; however, this left him open for another attack from Gohan.

The son of Goku charged at Gramps with his fist ready. Acting quick, Gramps cupped his hands together and started chanting something. **"KA…ME…HA…ME…HA!"** Gohan's eyes grew wide as his opponent fired a blue blast at him; he quickly crossed his arms in order to defend himself. The blast collided with Gohan and pushed him back a bit. When the beam faded, Gohan's arms were a little singed. "Ouch! That stung!" growled Gohan. "Not bad, my boy, but can you take it again?" asked Gramps as he cupped his hands again. "I'll do better than take it! I'll use it!" said Gohan as he also cupped his hands.

" **KA…ME…HA…ME…"** the two fighters began to chant while a blue star of ki formed in their palms. **"HA!"** cried Gramps as he fired a blue beam, as did Gohan. The two Kamehamehas collided, creating a big sphere of energy. The Ki benders pushed as hard as they could, pouring more ki into their attacks. The sphere moved back and forth as the two beams pushed against each other. Eventually, Gohan's beam managed to overtake the struggle and crashed right into the masked fighter. Gramps was thrown toward the edge of the ring where he barely managed to stop himself. Gohan then charged at his opponent while channeling ki into his right fist. "This fight ends now!" cried Gohan.

He reared his fist back as he got closer to the masked fighter. Just as Gohan was about to throw his fist into his challenger's face, Gramps chuckled and said, "I surrender." Gohan's fist stopped abruptly just before it could hit Gramps' mask. Gohan blinked as he asked, "You surrender?" "That's right, boy, I admit defeat," said Gramps.

"In that case, I guess you're the winner, Gohan," said Baba as she stepped back into the ring.

Elsewhere, Aang and Sokka were trekking through the village. Sokka was looking at all the villagers with an angry expression. "I can't believe all these saps!" said Sokka. "Someone really needs to scream some sense into them."

"They seem happy, Sokka." said Aang.

"Not for long. I'm gonna prove Aunt Wu's predictions are nonsense," Sokka said with determination. He then grabbed the closest man and said, "Hey you, I bet Aunt Wu told you to wear those red shoes, didn't she?" while pointing to the man's said shoes.

"Yeah. She said I'd be wearing red shoes when I met the one I love," answered the man.

"Uh huh…and how many times have you worn those shoes since you got that fortune?" asked Sokka.

"Every day," replied the man.

"Then of course it's gonna come true!" Sokka yelled angrily.

"Really? You think so? I'm so excited!" said the happy man before walking away. The Water tribesman kicked a rock which hit a turkey duck. Enraged, the water/land fowl attacked the teen by pecking at Sokka's head, causing him to crawl away.

With Katara, the Waterbender held out her hand for Aunt Wu to read. The fortuneteller traced her finger along Katara's palm as she told her of her future. "And then you will have your third great-grandchild before quietly passing away in your sleep," predicted Aunt Wu while trying to stay calm. "Is that enough information for you?" "Wow! Thanks Aunt Wu," said Katara. She got up to leave, but then stopped to ask another question. "Oh wait, one more thing. How warmly should I dress tomorrow?" Aunt Wu placed her hand on her forehead as she asked, "You want me to do a reading for that?" Katara grinned widely and nodded creepily.

With Gohan, the three were standing in the ring just after Gohan had won his match with the masked fighter. "Good fight, boy. I didn't expect you to be this skilled," said Gramps. He then took off his mask, showing the face of an old man with small eyes and a white mustache. "You remind of your father." "You knew my dad?" asked Gohan to the old man. "We both know Goku very well," replied Baba. "He was such an extraordinary fighter. One of the best I've ever seen."

"Wow! My Dad's must've been super strong. Makes me wonder if I'll live up to that kind of potential," Gohan admitted.

"Well, if you keep doubting yourself, that'll never happen, boy. Just keep training and you'll be just as strong as your old man," said Gramps.

"Really? You think so?" asked Gohan.

"Absolutely. In fact, why don't I show you a few techniques your father learned in his time?" offered the old fighter.

"Seriously? Alright!" said Gohan excitedly. "When do we start?"

"Now!" said Gramps. He didn't move at all, which started to confuse the son of Goku. His new mentor remained immobile for a full minute before Gohan asked, "Uh, are you ok?" The boy was suddenly sent flying by a blow that hit him in the back. Gohan landed on his face; he quickly looked behind him to see Gramps with his leg extended. "What the?" asked Gohan as he looked back and forth from the two Gramps, before one of them suddenly vanished. "That was the same trick you used during the fight."

"It's called the Afterimage Technique." said Gramps as he walked over to Gohan. "A special technique that only those who can move incredibly fast can use. As you move faster than the eye can track, you leave a temporary image of yourself to distract your foe." The old master held out his hand to Gohan, who took it and was pulled to his feet. "The faster you move, the more images you can create."

"Was my dad good with this technique?" asked Gohan.

"Your father was a true master of this particular technique," said Gramps. "Why don't you give it a try?"

"Ok," said Gohan. He closed his eyes to concentrate. He suddenly disappeared in a blinding speed, leaving an image of himself in the process. The old master smiled at Gohan's success.

"Not bad, my boy," complimented Gramps. "But you're not gonna get me that easily." He then turned around and tried to hand chop the Gohan he saw behind him, only for his hand to pass right through that image as well. "What?!" The old man was suddenly hit in the face with an elbow bash attack by his new pupil. Gramps wiped his face as he looked to his right to see Gohan standing there smiling."Impressive, boy. You managed to pull off the double afterimage right off the bat," said Gramps.

"Actually, that was an accident," said Gohan as he rubbed the back of his head. "I kinda moved faster than planned, but I just went along with it. Sorry."

"No need to apologize. You managed to use the afterimage technique, and that's good enough," said Gramps. "Now onto the next step, countering the afterimage techniques." Gramps disappeared with an image taking his place again. Gohan narrowed his eyes and quickly looked behind him; he spotted another image of his mentor there. He smiled and said, "Gotcha!" as he threw a punch to his right. His fist went right through his target seconds before he was kicked in the chin. Gohan back flipped and landed on his feet; he rubbed his chin as he saw Gramps with his leg pointing upward. "Guess I didn't get ya," said the boy.

"No, but you were close," said Gramps. "I'm amazed that you were able to see through two of my afterimages out of three."

" _I see. So, he must've been moving faster than I did in order to perform a triple afterimage,"_ thought Gohan. _"It seems controlling your speed matters very much with this technique. Let's test that theory."_

Gohan smirked arrogantly, which confused the old master. "What's with the smiling, boy? Got something up your sleeve?" asked Gramps. Gohan didn't answer before splitting himself into ten afterimages. The ten Gohan surrounded Gramps in a full circle. _"Amazing, he's learn to utilize the afterimage technique very quickly. He's just as talented and creative as Goku,"_ thought Gramps as he examined all of the images. _"However, you can't hide from me, boy!"_ The old martial artist looked up to see another Gohan preparing to strike him. Gramps jumped up to attack the boy, but ended up passing right through him.

"Surprise!" cried Gohan as he jumped at his mentor; the young fighter attempted to hand chop Gramps, but his attack passed right through the old man. "Sorry son, but there can only be one true master of this technique," said Gramps as he appeared behind Gohan. The old man threw a punch at the boy, expecting to win their scuffle, but once again, his attack passed right through the son of Goku. Gramps could barely register that before he was struck in the chest by a palm strike from the real Gohan. "And I guess that's me!" said Gohan. Gramps slowly stood up and dusted himself off. "Alright boy, you mastered the afterimage technique," said Gramps. "Now let me show you another one Goku liked to use. It's called the Jakken style."

"Jakken style? What's it do?" asked Gohan.

"This! Jakken!" cried Gramps as he rushed at Gohan, who took a fighting stance. "Scissors…!" The old man held out two fingers and jabbed Gohan in the eyes, blinding him. "Ow!" cried the boy. He instinctively threw a punch at his mentor. "Paper…!" Gramps blocked Gohan's fist with his own hand. "Rock!" The old man punched the spiky haired teen in the nose, making him stumble backward. "And that boy, is the Jakken style of fighting," said Gramps.

"Ouch, that really hurt," said Gohan as he rubbed his nose. "I see, you announce different hand signs and attack specifically with that hand sign."

"Exactly, each attack is determined by the hand sign the user performs," explained Gramps. "Go on, give it a try."

"Ok." said Gohan. "Jakken…Paper…!" He thrust his hand forward but his mentor blocked it with his knee. "Scissors…!" Gohan threw two fingers toward Gramps eyes; the old master immediately blocked it by grabbing his wrist. "Rock!" Gohan attempted to punch the old man, but he once again countered the attack by grabbing his fist.

"Not bad, boy, but you'll have to do better that!" said Gramps.

"Oh, I'll do better alright!" said Gohan. "Jakken…Rock… Paper… Scissors!" The son of Goku performed the Jakken fighting style once again, but the old fighter blocked every hand sign attack with ease.

"Don't you get it, boy, I'm an old pro at this style of fighting, you can't get me that easily," said Gramps. "Although, you did pick up on this technique rather quickly, like a true fighter."

"Thanks, but I'm not giving up till I've gotten the jump on you!" said Gohan. "Let's try this one more time; this time I'll try something different!"

"Feel free, just don't expect to win." said Gramps.

"Jakken…Paper..!" cried Gohan as he charged at the old warrior. Gramps was prepared to block a paper style attack, but was surprised when he was struck in the face by Gohan's fist. "Urgh! Why you little rookie…" said Gramps before he was interrupted. "Rock..!" Gohan quickly jabbed Gramps in the eyes, cancelling his sight. "Ow, you said it be rock!" complained the old man as he covered his eyes. "Scissor!" said Gohan as he gave palm strike to Gramps' chest, pushing the old man back a bit.

"Heh heh! Whatcha think of that?" asked Gohan.

"Not bad, you little trickster. Announcing one hand sign, while attacking with another," said Gramps. "You're just as clever as your dad. He'd be proud of your skills."

"Thank you, Gramps. If you'll excuse me, I'd like to stop so that I can check on my friends. I hope that's ok."

"It's fine, boy. That's enough lessons for today," said Gramps. "Feel free to come back anytime for some more training."

"Thank you," said Gohan as he bowed to Gramps. He then bowed to Baba and said, "Thank you for this challenge, Madam Baba. It was fun."

"You're welcome, boy. It was quite an excellent fight, definitely worth my fortunetelling skills," said Baba.

Gohan picked up his sword and strapped it to his back before happily jumping back toward the village. The two elders watched as the boy disappeared from their sight. "Well Gohan, what do you think of Goku's boy?" Baba asked the old fighter. "He's certainly an extraordinary young man. Brave, determined, selfless, kind, caring, and cheerful," replied Grandpa Gohan. "He reminds me so much of his father alright; I'm glad that he shares the same name as me."

Back at the village, Aang continued to watch his friend attempt to scream some sense into the villagers. It seemed like the more he tried, the crazier he became due to the villagers' ignorance. Sokka was clearly having no luck in proving that fortunetelling is ridiculous. "I don't care what Aunt Wu told you! You have to take a bath sometime!" Sokka screamed to a dirty old man. The hobo just chuckled before happily walking away.

"So Sokka, you know some stuff about ladies, right?" asked Aang.

" _Some_ stuff? You've come to the right place. What can I do you for?" Sokka offered his friend.

"Well, there's this girl…" Aang started to say.

Sokka then looked past him and saw Meng hiding behind a barrel. "I think I know who you mean," said Sokka.

"You do? And you're ok with it?" Aang asked, surprised.

"Of course I am," replied Sokka. "And to tell you the truth, I've been picking up a subtle vibe that she likes you, too."

"She does?" asked Aang. The monk became anxious and didn't see Meng trying to get his attention.

"Oh yeah, she's crazy about you. All you have to do now is not mess it up," advised Sokka.

"Well, how do I do that?" asked Aang.

"The number one mistake nice guys like you make: being too nice," answered Sokka.

"You can be too nice?" asked a confused Aang.

"Yep. If you want to keep her interested, you have to act aloof, like you don't really care one way or the other," suggested the tribesman.

"Well, okay…" said Aang.

Meng then walked up to the Airbender and tried to talk to him. "Hey Aang, I was wondering…"

"See ya later," said Aang casually, completely ignoring Meng.

"Wow, that kid is good," said Sokka.

Just then, Gohan landed right next to Sokka and asked, "Hey Sokka, what'd I miss?" "Just me giving your brother the best advice on how to impress a girl," Sokka replied with pride. "I'd be happy to share it with you if you want."

Aunt Wu was pushing the Waterbender out of her building, while giving her prediction of the weather tomorrow. "And you'll be fine as long as you've got a scarf. Bye-bye now," said Aunt Wu. "Ok ok, but one more thing," insisted Katara. "Alright, what is it?" asked the fortuneteller, clearly exhausted mentally. "Should I eat a mango or a papaya for breakfast tomorrow?" asked Katara. "Papaya!" answered Aunt Wu before slamming the door shut. "Aw, I hate papaya," complained the girl.

"Oh, hey, Katara. I didn't see you there," said Aang.

"Hey, Aang," Katara responded while walking away.

"That's okay. I'm busy with my own stuff," Aang said, trying to grab Katara's attention. A Turkey Duck the landed by him and quacked.

Katara strolled to the courtyard and went up to the fruit stand. "Ugh, papaya please," she ordered with no satisfaction. She took the papaya and stared at it with distaste when the aloof Avatar walked up to her.

"So… papaya," said Aang.

"Uh huh. Would you like some?" offered Katara.

"You know me. I don't really care what I eat," said Aang as he picked up an apple and bit into it.

"Okay then. See ya later," said Katara as she walked away.

As soon as she was gone, Aang spit out the apple. "Maybe aloof isn't my style," said the monk. His gaze fell toward a man and the woman who spoke to Meng earlier in Aunt Wu's building. "Oh, a panda lily!" The woman cried with joy. The couple embraced each other, and this sparked Aang's interest. "Did you see that?" Aang asked his lemur friend. He then cut in between the couple and asked, "Excuse me, where can a guy find one of those things?"

Moments later, Aang, Gohan, and Sokka were outside the Village, climbing to the top of Mt. Makapu. The brothers were hopping along the rocky outcrops while Sokka had to scale the mountain the hard way. "I can't believe you're dragging me all the way up here for a stupid flower," Sokka complained.

"Not just any flower, a panda lily," explained Aang. "I've seen it in action and boy, does it work."

"Flowers are fine once you're married, but at this early stage, it's critical that you maintain maximum aloofness," suggested Sokka.

"Right, 'cause it works like a charm compared to a rare flower," said Gohan sarcastically.

"Look, guys. My heart is telling me to get this flower, and Aunt Wu said if I trusted in my heart, I will be with the one I love," said Aang.

"What? Don't tell me you believe in that stuff, too," said Sokka, clearly annoyed.

"That sound more like an advice rather than a prediction," said Gohan.

"Well, Aunt Wu hasn't been wrong yet," said Aang. "Why should she be wrong about love?"

"Let me guess, you believe in that old hag Baba's fortunes too?" Sokka asked Gohan.

"Absolutely," replied the Ki bender.

"Ugh. I'm the only sensible person left in this town," groaned Sokka.

"There! On the rim!" said Aang as he pointed to the top of the mountain where there were numerous rare black and white flowers. The Airbender and Ki bender leapt to the top of the volcano and Aang picked up one of the panda lilies. The monk smelled the flower before looking into the volcano just as Sokka appeared beside him. The three stared in shock as they saw that lava had filled the volcano to the brim and was ready to blow in mere minutes. "Oh no. Aunt Wu was wrong," said Aang as he dropped his flower into the lava, where it burned.

"Those people all think they're safe!" said Sokka. "We gotta warn them!"

"There's no time to walk!" cried Aang as he opened his glider. "Grab on!" The Avatar grabbed his friend and the two took off into the air. Gohan quickly flew after them. The three flew over the trees and landed right back into the village. They soon met up with the female member of their gang, who was waiting outside Aunt Wu's building. "Hi, Katara." Aang greeted his friend shyly.

"Can you believe she won't let me in? And after all the business I've given her?" Katara asked in annoyance.

"But she doesn't even charge," stated Aang.

"I know, but still…" said Katara. "Do you think Lady Baba will do a reading for me?"

"Don't think so. She charges a hefty price, and I'm pretty you wouldn't be able to pay it," said Gohan.

"Well, we have other things to worry about," said Sokka. "Aunt Wu was wrong about the volcano."

"Sokka, you tried to convince me that Aunt Wu was wrong before," said Katara as she pointed a finger at her brother. "It's gonna take an awful lot more to change my mind…"

She was interrupted by the sound of the volcano rumbling. The four look up at the volcano to see smoke coming out of it. "Oh no," said Katara. The Gang hurried to the courtyard to warn the villagers of the volcano's eruption. "Everyone, that volcano is gonna blow any second! Aunt Wu was wrong!" Sokka urgently warned the people, but once again, none of the villagers took him seriously.

"Yeah, yeah, we know you don't believe in Aunt Wu, Mr. Science and reason lover," said a disbelieving woman.

"If you won't listen to him, maybe you'll listen to me," said Katara as she stepped forward. "I want to believe Aunt Wu and her predictions as much as you do, but my friends saw the lava with their own eyes."

"Well, I heard Aunt Wu's prediction with my own ears," argued the calm man.

"Listen, we know Aunt Wu's predictions have been right so many times, but she's still human." said Gohan. "You can't always know the future. Aunt Wu could be wrong this time."

"Or, you could be wrong since you're also human and not a fortuneteller," said another villager.

The Avatar suddenly jumped onto a building and spoke out urgently. "Please listen to us! You're all in danger! And we have to get out of here! You can't rely on Aunt Wu's prediction, you have to take fate into your own hands!"

It seemed like the villagers were starting to listen, when another rumbling noise startled the village. "Look! Can your fortunetelling explain that?!" asked Sokka as he pointed toward the volcano. The villagers looked to see smoke coming from the mountain, but this still wasn't enough to convince them. "Can your science explain why it rains?" the man with red shoes asked mockingly. "Yes! Yes it can!" replied Sokka. The villagers simply walked away as if they were never warned of the own destruction.

"What now? We can't let this village be destroyed," said Gohan.

"They just won't listen to reason," said Katara.

"But they will listen to Aunt Wu!" said Aang as he descended from the building.

"I know, that's the problem," said Sokka.

"Well, it's about to become the solution. We're taking fate in our own hands," said Aang.

"How?" asked Gohan.

"First, I need to borrow Aunt Wu's cloud reading book," said Aang.

The Gang had gone back to Aunt Wu's building. Gohan, Katara, and Sokka were keeping watch while Aang and Momo snuck inside the building through the top window. The two entered the fortuneteller's chamber and began searching for the cloud reading book. The Lemur screeched while Aang opened a drawer. "Shh! We don't want anyone to hear us," Aang whispered to his pet. Aang continued to search until he saw Meng's reflection in the mirror; he quickly turned around and hid Momo. "Oh, I didn't see you there," he said to the girl.

Getting right to the point, Meng sadly asked, "You don't like me, do you?"

"Of course I do," said Aang.

"But not the way I like you," the girl corrected.

"Oh, I guess not," said Aang in realization.

"It's okay. It's just really hard when you like someone, but they don't think of you that way," said Meng.

"I know how you feel," said Aang in sympathy.

"She's beautiful, by the way," Meng said, surprising the monk.

"Huh?" asked an embarrassed Aang.

"That Water Tribe Girl," replied Meng. "I can see why you like her so much. She's sweet, she's a bender, and her hair seems so manageable." She proved her point by trying to fix her hair, only for it to return to its usual style.

"Don't worry. You're going to meet a great guy who's going to completely fall for you. I know it," said Aang as he touched her shoulder to comfort her.

"Thanks," said Meng. The monk turned to leave, but she stopped him. "Wait, don't you want this?" She held out Aunt Wu's cloud reading book.

"How'd you know?" asked Aang as he took the book.

"I've kind of been stalking you," Meng confessed as she played with her fingers.

"Oh, thanks…I guess," said Aang, embarrassed again.

After retrieving the cloud reading book, Aang and Katara quickly got on Appa and flew over the village, high above the clouds. The Airbender stirred the Sky Bison while the Waterbender looked through the cloud book. "Clouds are made of water and air, so between the two of us, we ought to be able to bend them into any shape we want," Aang explained to his friend. "I found it. The symbol for volcanic doom," said Katara as she showed it to Aang. The two benders immediately stood on Appa's saddle and started moving their arms up and down. Appa flew through the air with the clouds following his every move.

Down below, the villagers watch as the clouds began to change formation. The two swung their arms around, creating a new cloud shape. Sokka brought Aunt Wu to the courtyard and pointed upward. "Aunt Wu, look! Something is happening in the clouds," Sokka alerted the fortuneteller. "That's very strange. It shouldn't..." said Aunt Wu as she looked at the clouds. The fortuneteller was terrified by the symbol she saw. "Oh my!" Everyone could now see the skull shaped symbol in the clouds.

Moments later, the gang was speaking to the villagers on what to do in order to avoid destruction. Smoke continued to fly out of the volcano, indicating that time was short. "We can still save the village if we act fast!" the Avatar assured the people. "Sokka has a plan!"

"Lava is gonna flow downhill to this spot," the Tribesman explained. "If we can dig a deep enough trench, we can channel all the lava away from the village to the river."

"If any of you are Earthbenders, come with me and Gohan," instructed Aang.

"I'm an Earthbender!" replied Poi.

"I'm not!" said Ping.

"Everybody else, grab a shovel!" ordered Sokka. The volcano erupted once again, startling the people. "Come on! We gotta hurry!"

The villagers rushed to get to work. Pretty soon, everyone was doing what they could to dig a trench in front of the village. Earthbenders were using their skills to push boulders out of the way. The non benders were manually digging the trench while Appa helped by carrying rocks out of the trench. Gohan was by himself as he focused his energy into his hands. "HAAAH!" cried the boy as he blasted away some more large rocks. Gramps appeared beside him and the two Ki benders used their energy attacks to dig deeper.

Earthbenders continued to move the rubble while Sokka and the non benders dug with shovels. The volcano erupted again, and this time, lava started to escape from the top. "Dig faster! Dig faster!" ordered Sokka as they resumed digging. Poi ran off and earthbended a few boulders into the river. The Avatar leapt to the top of the trench and yelled, "Everyone needs to evacuate! We'll come for you when it's safe!" The villagers immediately stopped digging and fled. Momo placed a rock at the side of the trench and jumped onto Aang's shoulder.

Ash rained down on the village while the four teens waited patiently by the trench. Lava poured out of Mt. Makapu and headed toward the village gate. The gate burned as the lava moved past it. The lava flowed through the cemetery and destroyed the head stones in it. The lava made it to the trench and started to fill it up. "It's too much! It's gonna overflow!" cried Katara.

Another explosion occurred as more lava shot out of the volcano. Sokka and Katara ran to safety as boulders rained down into the lava. The Water tribe siblings looked back to see Aang and Gohan still standing by the trench. "You ready?" Aang asked his brother. "Let's do it!" replied Gohan before he flew into the air. The lava exploded in front of Aang, who then charged at it furiously. The Airbender launched himself into the air and controlled the air around him. Aang swung the air at the lava, preventing it from flowing out of the trench. He then took a big breath and blew a strong air blast at the lava, cooling it down. Aang lowered his hands in relaxation.

The Water tribe siblings watched in amazement. "Man, sometimes I forget what a powerful bender that kid is," stated Sokka.

"Wait, what did you just say?" Katara asked her brother.

"Nothing, just that Aang is one powerful bender," Sokka said again.

Katara stared at the Avatar and softly said, "I suppose he is."

The Ki bender positioned himself above the river before firing a Kamehameha wave at the water, pushing the water toward the streaming lava and cooling it to stone. The volcano finally stopped erupting, but still let out smoke.

Moments later, the courtyard was towered by a tall, rough looking wall. The people, Aunt Wu, Meng, and lady Baba gathered in the town square to see the Gang off. "By the way, we kind of borrowed your book," said a bashful Aang as he returned the fortuneteller's book.

"So you messed with the clouds, did you?" Aunt Wu accused the boy as she took her book back. The three benders carried shameful looks while Sokka just pointed to his sister. Aunt Wu simply laughed and complimented them. "Very clever."

"No offense, but I hope this taught everyone a lesson about not relying too much on fortune telling," Sokka said to the villagers.

"But Aunt Wu predicted the village wouldn't be destroyed and it wasn't," argued the calm man. "She was right, after all."

Sokka got in the man's face and growled, "I hate you."

"It's okay, Sokka. Everything's going to be all right," Katara assured her brother. The Water Tribe siblings walked to the Sky bison. Gohan went to talk to Madam Baba.

"Thank you for giving me an insight to my future, Lady Baba," said Gohan.

"I sense that there's still something you would like to know about your destiny," said Baba

"How did you…" said Gohan before stopping himself. "Never mind."

"What's on your mind, boy?" asked Baba.

"It's about my Dad. I'm always hearing about how incredible he was; I'm not sure if I'll be able to live up to his legacy," confessed Gohan.

"Let me tell you something I said about your father," Baba said as she put her hand on Gohan's shoulder. "I sensed that he would be a great hero of his time. I know that you will one day be just as great as he was."

"Thank you, Baba," said Gohan as he bowed to the psychic. He then left and got on Icarus' back.

"Can I ask you something?" Aang said to Aunt Wu.

"Of course, honey," she replied.

"You didn't really see love in my fortune, did you?" Aang asked her, disappointed. "You just told me what I wanted to hear."

"I'll tell you a little secret, young Airbender," Aunt Wu said to the monk. "Just as you reshaped those clouds, you have the power to shape your own destiny."

Aang smiled at Aunt Wu's words. He then airbended himself onto Appa's saddle. Sokka was waiting on the beast's saddle while Katara sat on the head. "Goodbye, everyone! It was so nice to meet you!" Katara said to the villagers. She then looked to Aunt Wu's assistant. "Take care, Meng."

"Take care!" Meng said back with a smile, but once the Gang left, she frowned and said, "Floozy."

 **A/N: Finally through with this chapter. I hope you appreciated the surprises. Sorry it took so long. I'm going to be working on this fanfic and the new one I adopted simultaneously, hopefully. So the chapters may take a little longer to post than usual. Keep reading, we've only just begun and send your reviews. Until next time, BBFN! AntiHero out!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hello again! First I would like to apologize to all my readers for taking so long to post this chapter, I've been a bit busy with some other stuff that took longer than I had hoped. Just to let all of you know, I wasn't planning on skipping Bato of the Water Tribe. But after I watched it a few times, I realized that the episode was just boring to me. The only good parts were The Bounty Hunter June and fight scene. I just really want to get to the North Pole chapters. So, sorry in advance and hope this doesn't make you hate Five Elements, now it's time to proceed with the story, so sit back, relax, and enjoy. Also, thank you for the reviews.**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own Dragon Ball Z or Avatar the Legend of Aang**

 **Chapter 14 Short**

The Shirshu followed Aang's scent all the way back to the sister's abbey, this time with the two Firebenders, the Ki bender, the Bounty hunter, and the water tribe siblings on its saddle. It burst through the recently repaired gate and began pacing in a circle while sniffing.

"What's it doing? It's just going around in a circle!" said Zuko.

"He must be close by!" said Trunks.

The giant anteater suddenly looked up just as the Airbender flew toward it. The Shirshu stood on its hind legs and tried to whip Aang; it missed and started to stumble, causing all its passengers to fall off before falling on its side.

"Aang!" said Katara.

June quickly got up and shouted, "Up!" to her beast while whipping it. The beast stood up and its rider got on the saddle, and the two charged at Aang after he landed in the courtyard. Before they could reach him, Appa, with Gohan on his head, rammed into the Shirshu, knocking them into one of the abbey homes. The Bison grunted heavily as the spiky haired teen slid to the ground. Aang smiled until his attention was brought to the fire prince standing before him. Zuko's fist let out a small flame as he prepared to battle the Avatar. Aang's face showed no sign of fear. Zuko started the fight by unleashing a fire blast at Aang.

Aang deflected it with his staff and fired his own air blast. Zuko dodged the attack and shot another flame attack at his opponent. The two then begin exchanging attacks.

Gohan watched his friend fight Zuko and ran to aid him, but his path was intercepted by an energy blast from Prince Trunks. The two Ki benders glared at each other as they took their stances. Gohan charged at Trunks with his left fist ready. The lavender haired warrior blocked the attack with his right arm. He countered by trying to kick Gohan but his attack was dodged. The two fighters started trading blows until they punched each other in the face. They quickly recovered and stepped away from each other. The two opponents started emitting ki around their entire bodies. Trunks' ki sparked like red electricity while Gohan's was blue. They rushed at each other and clashed their ki together.

The two pushed against each other as they focused their energy into their fists. They both threw a punch at each other, causing their fists to collide, which made a small impact that left a crater in the courtyard. Trunks quickly reacted by kicking Gohan in the stomach and blasting him into a wall. Back with Aang and Zuko, the fire prince managed to knock Aang's staff away but the two still fired their signature attacks at each other. They eventually attacked each other at the same time, creating a flame/gale explosion that consumed both of them before blasting them into different courtyard building rooftops.

The Bounty hunter and her beast were still unconscious when General Iroh approached them; he tapped June's face a few times, waking her up. She cracked her whip to wake up her beast. The Shirshu stood up; allowing June to climb onto its saddle, and the two charged at the sky bison. Appa jumped high above their heads and sailed over them, but the Shirshu whipped its tongue, striking the bison's back left leg. Appa landed on his feet and collapsed. After a few seconds, Appa stood again and ran toward the Shirshu. The Bounty hunter whipped her beast, commanding it to attack. The two giant beasts butted heads while June sailed over Appa, whipping him in the process. She landed on the ground and rolled away just before the bison's foot could squish her.

Trunks stood in front of the wall where he kicked his opponent. Gohan suddenly charged at the fire prince and started rapidly punching at him. Trunks managed to block most of the blows with his arms but Gohan persisted until he punched Trunks in his right cheek. He then kicked Trunks in the gut; skull bashed him in the chin, and finally kicked him away. Trunks slowly stood and pulled out his sword, as did Gohan. They rushed at each other with their blades ready. They swung their swords at each other, blocking and dodging multiple slashes. Trunks fired multiple blasts at Gohan, who deflected them all with a massive ki wave. Gohan started firing his own energy blasts at Trunks, but he deflected them with his sword.

Aang started to wake up; he rubbed his head and groaned. He gasped when he noticed Prince Zuko charging toward him. Zuko shot a fire wave at the Avatar, who quickly jumped into the air to avoid it and landed behind the fire prince. Zuko attacked with a fire kick, but Aang jumped up and countered with an air blast. Zuko dodged the gale attack and fired another blast at Aang; he deflected the attack with his airbending. The monk then unleashed a strong air wave that blew Zuko away. The Firebender recovered in time to see Aang rushing at him with another air attack. Aang's blast slammed into the wall and knocked Zuko off the roof.

June and her Shirshu suddenly climbed onto the roof and chased after the Avatar. Appa tried to help by slamming his tail on the ground, creating a giant air blast that missed the Shirshu and knocked some tiles off the rooftop. Down below, Sokka and Katara were still paralyzed when Sokka's arm started moving. "I'm starting to get some feeling back!" said the teen before the broken tiles descended on him. "Ow."

The Ki benders continued to slash at each other until Gohan jumped into the air and fired a big ki blast at Trunks. The prince swung his sword and sent the blast back to its rightful owner. The blast collided with Gohan, creating a large smokescreen that made it hard for the young fighter to see or breathe. His sword was suddenly knocked out of his hand by Trunks' sword and he was pulled downward by his legs. Trunks grabbed Gohan by the ankles and threw him into the ground. Gohan crashed into the ground and stayed there for a few minutes. Trunks then brought his hands together and created a sphere of gold electricity. **"FINAL FLASH!"** cried the prince. He fired a gold beam at his opponent with no time to evade. The blast hit Gohan and he was consumed in an explosion.

Aang jumped into sewage with the Shirshu right behind him. When Aang jumped out, the Shirshu followed and climbed onto the roof. Appa shot another wind attack at the giant anteater.

Trunks descended to the ground and approached the hole that was still smoking from the attack. Just as he was a few feet away from it, he heard a digging sound. Gohan suddenly jumped out of the ground with his hands cupped together and a glare on his face. **"KAMEHAME…HA!"** the boy yelled as he fired his blue beam at the older fighter. Trunks was then blasted to the other side of the courtyard. Gohan then charged at his foe, who in response charged at him; the two clashed and pushed against each other again.

Back with Aang, the Airbender jumped back and dodged another fire blast from Zuko. The Son of Ozai ran up to the well and continued firing attacks at the Avatar. Aang managed to dodge every blast swiftly before getting a glimpse of the water tribe necklace in Zuko's hand. "You've got something I want!" said Aang. He then jumped into the canopy of the well while still avoiding Zuko's fire attacks. The Airbender bent his body multiple times until Zuko destroyed the canopy. The Firebender jumped onto the well and the two danced around each other while trading blows.

Aang reached for the necklace but missed it. Zuko fired two more attacks at his enemy; Aang dodged both of them, jumped onto Zuko, and kicked him away while jumping into the air. As he descended, Aang grabbed the necklace that he swiped with his foot and dove into the well. Zuko unleashed a strong fire blast in his fury but was soon knocked into the air by a raging wave, courtesy of Aang. The Avatar jumped out of the well as the water descended like rain seconds before Zuko hit the ground. The Fire Prince got up and attacked Aang again, but Appa intercepted him, forcing him to back away. The Bison was then struck with the Shirshu's tongue; making him stagger.

The Bounty Hunter ordered her beast to attack again, and Appa was hit with another tongue whip. Appa struggled to stay up but the beast continued to whip him till he finally keeled over.

The Water tribe siblings were still recovering when the Superior brought a specific perfume to them; one whiff was enough to get them to their feet again. "That thing sees with its nose. Let's give him something to look at," said Sokka.

"The Perfume?" asked the Superior to which Sokka nodded.

With the Ki benders, Trunks managed to gain the upper hand and kicked his opponent into the air. Gohan caught himself and stayed airborne. Trunks started channeling Ki into his hand before firing multiple blasts at Gohan. The Son of Goku dodged every blast until he noticed that they stopped in mid-air all around him. Trunks brought his hands together and yelled, **"HELLZONE GRENADE!"** All the blasts around Gohan started closing in on him, each one causing a small explosion upon impact. After the final blast, Trunks was surprised to Gohan contained in a yellow dome of energy. Gohan lowered his dome and smirked. Trunks fired another blast at the boy, but it went right through him seconds before he disappeared.

"You can go ahead and fire all the attacks you want," said Gohan as he reappeared. "As long as I'm in the air, you'll never be able to touch me!"

"We'll see about that!" said Trunks. His whole body started channeling ki until it took the shape of a fiery red aura. It then traveled to Trunks' feet, consuming them in two red spheres of Ki. Trunks then cried, "HAAAH!" as he was boosted into the air by two energy blasts being shot from his feet. Gohan stared with wide eyes as his rival flew above him with his hands clamped together. Trunks brought his hands down to bash Gohan, but the younger fighter quickly put up a shield to defend himself. Trunks struggled to break the shield while Gohan struggled to hold it. Finally, Trunks managed to send both Gohan and the shield into the ground in the same corner the Avatar was backed into.

Sokka and the sisters were pushing barrels of perfume into the courtyard while Aang and Gohan fended off their attackers. Gohan put up another energy shield to protect him and Aang from Prince Trunks, Prince Zuko, and the Shirshu, who were trying to break the shield with their attacks. The perfume was spilled all over the floor and Katara waterbended it and splashed the Shirshu with it. The beast shook itself and tried to sniff out Aang, but the traces of scent from the perfume confused it, making it strike Zuko, Trunks, and even June with its tongue.

"June! Noooo!" cried Iroh as he caught the bounty hunter before collapsing himself.

The giant anteater ran around frantically, knocking over a few more barrels of perfume before climbing out of the abbey and running away. Gohan and Aang collected their weapons as their friends approached them and smiled. The four then got on the flying beasts and left the abbey to continue their journey.

 **End of short.**

 **Now to get on with the real chapter**

 **Chapter 15-**

It was late afternoon and the Gang had been wandering in an unknown forest. The four teens soon came across a notice board with the hope of trying to figure out where they were.

"This should give us a good idea of what's around here," said Katara as she looked at the board.

Her brother was busy trying to feed himself by hoisting an empty bag over his mouth. "See if you can find a menu, I'm starving," said Sokka.

"I bet we'll find something to eat here!" said Aang as he pointed to a spot on the board. "The Fire Days Festival. Fire Nation cultural exhibits... jugglers, benders, magicians. This'd be a great place for me to study some real Firebenders!"

"You might wanna rethink that. Look at this," said Sokka, getting his friends' attention. The three benders came over to the other side of the board where they saw many posters of different people. One contained an old man with a scar, two were of the Red and Blue Spirits, and two of them were about two specific young boys. "Hey, it's a poster of Aang," said Gohan. "And there's one of me."

"They're wanted posters. This is bad," said Sokka.

The Avatar took both of the posters and looked at them just as the Waterbender appeared beside him. "I think we better keep moving," suggested Katara.

"I have to learn firebending at some point, and this could be my only chance to watch a master up close," said Aang.

Katara thought about it before replying, "I guess we could check it out."

"What?!" asked Sokka in disbelief. "You want to walk into a Fire Nation town where they're all fired up with all their, you know, fire?"

"We'll wear disguises and if it looks like trouble, we'll leave," assured Katara as she and Aang walked toward Appa.

"Yeah, because we always leave before we get into trouble," Sokka said sarcastically.

"It'll be fine as long as we just observe and don't cause any trouble," said Gohan.

The Gang soon came out of the forest and stood on top of a slight hill just outside a fire nation town. "You guys stay out of sight here while we go to the festival," Aang instructed their animal friends. Icarus immediately hid in one bush while Momo hid in the other; Appa simply went to Momo's hiding spot and concealed his face. Aang then turned to his friends and said, "Ready disguises!" The water tribe siblings immediately dressed themselves in a black cloak and covered their heads with hoods, Gohan concealed himself in a long black cape while pulling a hood over his head as well, and Aang just pulled his shirt over his head. "It's like you're a whole different person," said Sokka while Katara and Gohan laughed.

"Let's go!" said Aang. The four teens began making their way to the village where the fire festival was being held, completely unaware of the masked stranger following from within the shadows.

The Gang soon entered the village while fireworks were launched into the sky. The four foreigners tried to stick together as several people in a dragon costume passed by them. They then noticed many of the people attending the festival were wearing masks. "I think we need some new disguises," said Katara.

"Where are we gonna get masks like that?" asked Sokka.

"Get your genuine Fire Festival masks here!" yelled a Mask merchant from his stand.

The three benders rushed to get their masks while Sokka said, "That was surprisingly easy," before going to join them. Katara got a feminine mask, Gohan got a hog monkey mask, Sokka got a cheerful mask, and Aang got a sad one. Katara looked at her brother and Aang before switching their mask to match their expressions. Now with their masks, the teens were able to hide in plain sight; the four looked around until Aang spotted a merchant selling food. "Hey, there's some food."

"Finally!" exclaimed Sokka. He and Gohan then ran up to the merchant and asked, "What do you have?"

"Flaming fire flakes! Best in town," the Merchant offered the boys.

"We'll take 'em!" said Sokka as he grabbed a bag full. The two boys started stuffing their faces with fire flakes very fast until steam came out of Sokka's mouth due to the amount of flaming fire flakes he ate. "Aaahhh! Hot! Hot!" cried the tribesman as he fanned his tongue.

"Flaming fire flakes" hot? What do you know," said Katara, crossing her arms.

"Not bad; a little spicy though," commented Gohan as he continued to eat.

"Hey, look at this," said Aang. The four then went over to where a small puppet show was being performed for a crowd of children. The Firebender performing had his hand inside a puppet that resembled Fire Lord Ozai. The children cheered as the show began. "Don't worry, loyal citizens! No one can surprise the Fire Lord!" announced the Ozai puppet. An Earthbender puppet suddenly appeared with a boulder in its hand, attempting to attack puppet Ozai. The children cried out warnings to the Fire Lord puppet, and puppet Ozai then breathed fire onto the Earthbender puppet, burning it to ash. The children cheered and the Gang quietly walked away. Aang then started leading them to a large crowd of specters. "Aang, hold on! Where are we going?" Katara asked the monk.

"I don't know, but there's a big crowd, so it must be good," replied Aang.

"Knowing the Fire Nation, it's probably an execution," commented Sokka.

The Gang eventually came up to a stage with four pillars that were on fire, where a young man was performing firebending tricks. The performer pulled fire from the four pillars and bended them all around the stage. The performer then snuffed out his flames and turned them into four white birds, amazing the crowd and Aang. "I gotta learn that trick!" said Aang excitingly. "Aang, we're only here to observe, not take lessons, remember?" asked Gohan. "Thank you! For my next trick, I need a volunteer from the audience!" said the Firebender.

"Oh! Oh! Me! Me!" Aang cried out while waving his hand.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Sokka as he put Aang's hand down.

"I want to get a closer look," said Aang.

"It's better that we don't attract any attention to ourselves," Katara whispered to her friend.

"How about you, little lady?" asked the performer as he pointed to the water tribe girl. Katara quickly backed away and shook her head no. "Awww, she's shy. Let's give her some encouragement, folks!" suggested the performer. The crowd cheered and one of them pushed Katara forward; the performer pulled her onto the stage.

"Awww! That could've been me," Aang complained.

Katara stood at the center of the stage as the performer brought a chair over to her. "This next trick is called Taming the Dragon!" announced the performer. "You will be my captured princess." The Waterbender was placed into the chair and tied there with a ribbon. The performer pulled out fire from the four pillars and formed them into a dragon-like shape. The fiery beast flew around the stage. "Don't worry, young maiden! I will tame this fiery beast!" said the performer. He then created a rope of fire and looped it around the dragon's head. The fire dragon continued to fly around while the performer attempted to restrain it. "It's too strong, I can't hold it!" cried the performer, clearly acting.

"We gotta help her!" said a concerned Aang.

"No, we don't want to make a scene!" said Sokka as he and Gohan held Aang back.

"The rope, it's breaking!" cried the performer. The rope around the fire dragon suddenly snapped and the beast charged at Katara. The helpless Waterbender shut her eyes in fear as the beast lunged at her with its jaws open, but Aang quickly jumped onto the stage in front of Katara and unleashed a whirlwind from his hands that disintegrated the dragon into confetti while accidently removing his mask in the process. "Hey, you trying to upstage me, kid?" the performer asked Aang. The crowd started to boo Aang for interrupting the performance. Aang tried to entertain them by doing a goofy dance while his companions climbed onto the stage to free Katara. "Hey! That kid's the Avatar!" said one of the spectators, causing Aang to stop dancing and getting the fire guards' attention.

The guards began to quickly approach the stage as the remaining members of the Gang removed their masks. "I think it's time to go," said Sokka.

"Follow me! I can get ya outta here!" said the masked stranger who was following the teens. "There they are!" cried one of the guards as they climbed onto the stage. Without much of a choice, the Gang ran past the masked man, who threw a smoke bomb at the guards. The masked man led the teens through the village where they were spotted by more guards. "I'm calling Appa!" cried Aang. He brought his bison whistle and blew into it.

"I hope he can really hear that bison whistle!" said Sokka.

"This way!" said the masked man as he led them around the corner, only for their path to be blocked by more guards. "Ok, not this way." The masked man pulled out another bomb and threw it at the guards. The Gang ran around another corner, but their path was blocked again, this time by a cart full of fireworks. The guards began to close in on the group when Appa suddenly appeared above them. "Appa, down here!" cried Aang. The Bison landed in front of the group and slammed his tail on the ground, blowing the guards away. The Gang got on Appa's saddle and he flew away. The masked man pulled out another bomb and threw it at the cart of fireworks, creating a spectacular display as Appa lit a pillar on fire, getting the villagers to cheer. The Gang sailed over the forest as Icarus appeared next to Appa and Gohan jumped onto his animal friend.

"Nice touch setting off the fireworks," Aang complimented the masked man.

"You seem to really know your explosives," said Gohan.

"I'm familiar," said the masked man as he removed his hood and faced the Gang.

"You're a Fire Nation soldier!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Was," the man corrected him. "My name's Chey." The Gang eventually landed somewhere deep in the forest. Appa and Icarus were sound asleep while the teens sat around a campfire listening to Chey. "I serve a man. More than a man really; he's a myth, but he's real, a living legend: Jeong Jeong the Deserter. He was a Fire Nation general, or wait, was he an admiral?" Chey thought while rubbing his head in confusion.

"We get it. He was very highly ranked," said Sokka.

"Yeah! Way up there! But he couldn't take the madness any more. He's the first person ever to leave the army and live," Chey continued to explain. "I'm the second, but you don't get to be a legend for that. That's okay, though. Jeong Jeong's a firebending genius. Some say he's mad but he's not! He's enlightened."

"You mean there's a Firebender out here who's not with the Fire Lord?" Aang asked excitedly. He then stood up and said, "We've gotta go see him! He can train me!"

"We're not gonna go find some crazy Firebender!" said Sokka.

"He's not crazy! He's a genius! And he's the perfect person to train the Avatar!" argued Chey. "That's why I followed you into the festival."

"You seem to admire this Jeong Jeong a lot," said Gohan.

"You would too if you met him," replied Chey. "He's a great man and an excellent teacher."

The Water tribesman then stood up and declared, "Look, thanks for the help, but we're leaving for the North Pole in the morning."

"Sokka, this could be my only chance to meet a firebending master who would actually be willing to teach me," Aang tried to reason with his friend.

Katara stood up and spoke in agreement with the Avatar. "It can't hurt just to talk to him."

"That's what you said about going to the festival! Why doesn't anyone ever listen to me?!" Sokka yelled before turning away in anger. The group was then ambushed by a group of men wearing straw hats and wooden armor, and holding spears. With the group completely surrounded, one of the men told them, "Don't move!"

The Gang, Chey, Appa, and Icarus were then led through the forest by their captors. "Jeong Jeong told you not to look for Avatar!" the leader of the forest men said to Chey.

"Hold on, you know these guys!?" asked Sokka.

"Oh yeah! Lin Yi's an old buddy! Right Lin Yi?" said Chey while looking back at the leader.

"Shut up! Keep moving," Lin Yi ordered the group.

"He seems friendly," said Gohan sarcastically.

The teens were eventually led to Jeong Jeong's campsite by the river where Lin Yi directed Chey toward a single tent. "Go on. He sees you only," Lin Yi told Chey.

"Oh that's okay, we can chat later," said Chey.

"Is that where Jeong Jeong is?" asked Aang. "I need to talk to him right away." The Airbender stepped forward, but his path was blocked by Lin Yi's spear. "No! You wait there," Lin Yi told Aang before pushing Chey forward. "Go now!" "Don't worry, everything will be fine. He's a great man, great man!" Chey assured the Gang as he approached Jeong Jeong's tent and the teens were led away.

Back at the fire festival, the guards were being questioned by Admiral Zhao, Commander Brute, and some fire soldiers. "So, the Avatar was here and you him let slip away?" Zhao asked the guards.

"Yes sir," replied the guard. "But other than that, the festival went off without a hitch!" A fire pillar suddenly tipped over and crashed right behind them. "No fights. Theft was way down."

"Pathetic," muttered Brody.

"I don't care about your local crime rates! Which way did they go?" asked the Admiral.

"They headed into the forest, up the river I suspect," replied the guard.

Zhao then turned to his men and said "Commander, ready the river boats. We're going after the Avatar."

At the campsite near the river, Chey exited Jeong Jeong's hut with a depressed look on his face. He entered the Gang's hut where the teens were sound asleep. The Avatar immediately woke up as Chey sat down. "What happened? Can I see Jeong Jeong now?" asked Aang.

"He won't see you. He's very angry that I brought you here," Chey replied in shame. "He wants you to leave immediately."

"Finally! Let's hit the road," said Sokka as he sat up.

"Why won't he see me?" asked Aang.

"He says you're not ready. Says you haven't mastered waterbending and earthbending yet," Chey told the monk.

"Wait, how does he know that?" Aang asked.

"He saw the way you walked into camp. He can tell," replied Chey.

"I'm going in anyway!" said Aang as he got up and left their hut to see the Deserter. Before he could reach Jeong Jeong's tent, a hand tapped his shoulder. He looked back to see Gohan behind him. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Gohan asked his brother. The two walked over to the side of the river where no one could hear them. "Is something wrong?" Aang asked the Ki bender.

"You tell me," replied Gohan. "You seem a little determined to learn firebending, but not in a good way. Why?"

"Uh maybe because I have to since I'm the Avatar and I need to master all four elements in order to end this war," replied Aang snidely.

"I understand that, but it feels like you're letting your obsession of mastering the elements cloud your judgment," said Gohan. "You can't expect to save this world by rushing things."

"But this could be the only time I can learn firebending from a Firebender," argued Aang. "Why shouldn't I take this chance now?"

"Because this Jeong Jeong might be right, you might not be ready for this yet," said Gohan.

"He can't be right! I have to be ready!" said Aang.

"Just because you think you're ready doesn't mean you are!" argued Gohan. "We've seen what Firebenders can do, and we know this kind of power can corrupt the bender and harm others if not controlled properly. What if you do master firebending before water and earth and decide that's all you need to defeat the Fire Lord, that you could challenge him with just fire in an Agni Kai to stop the war?"

Aang opened his mouth to say something but stopped to think about what his brother was trying to tell him. Gohan placed his hand on the Airbender's shoulder to comfort him. "Look, I know how important mastering the elements is for you and I get that you want to learn firebending fast while you still can, but you can't expect to do that when you're being irrational. Trying to learn the elements in a mixed order isn't going to help you achieve your destiny faster; it could actually slow you down. There will be a time when you're ready to learn firebending but that time is not now."

Aang closed his eyes to process Gohan's advice. He then opened his eyes and looked directly at his best friend. "Thank you for your concern and your words, bro, but I don't know if I'll ever meet a Firebender to teach me in the future. I have to see Jeong Jeong."

Gohan sighed and said, "Fine. Then I won't stop you. Just be careful." The spiky haired teen returned to his hut as Aang approached Jeong Jeong's. Aang stopped at the entrance to take a deep breath before entering the hut. Aang found himself in a dark room lit by a few candles, and in front of him and the candles was an elderly man in meditative position with his back to him. "Get out," the Deserter said sternly. Aang hesitated to approach him but did so and stopped at the candles. "Master, I need to learn firebending," said Aang.

"Only a fool seeks his own destruction," said Jeong Jeong.

The Avatar sat down and continued to speak. "I'm the Avatar. It's my destiny to..."

"Destiny?!" Jeong Jeong interrupted him. "What would a boy know of destiny? If a fish lives its whole life in this river, does he know the river's destiny? No!" Aang grew nervous as the man spoke on. "Only that it runs on and on out of his control! He may follow where it flows, but he cannot see the end. He cannot imagine the ocean."

"Okay, but it's the Avatar's duty to master all of the bending disciplines," said Aang.

"To master the bending disciplines, you must first master discipline itself," the Firebender said to the Airbender. "But you have no interest in this, so I have no interest in you! Now, get out."

"Please, I have to learn. This could be my only chance," Aang argued.

Jeong Jeong turned to face the boy and yelled at him angrily. "Are you deaf?! How can I teach you if you refuse to listen? Before learning firebending, you must learn water and earth. Water is cool and soothing, earth is steady and stable, but fire, fire is alive!" The Deserter started to steadily bend one of the candle flames as he spoke. "It breathes, it grows; without a bender, a rock will not throw itself! But fire will spread and destroy everything in its path if one does not have the will to control it! That is its destiny! You are not ready! You are too weak!"

The fire on the candles flared up after Jeong Jeong's last statement and then went out, completely darkening the hut. When one of the candles was relit, Avatar Aang was gone and standing before Jeong Jeong was Avatar Roku. "You think I am weak, Jeong Jeong?" asked the past Avatar.

"Avatar Roku! No! No! I did not mean that!" said Jeong Jeong as he bowed his head.

"I've mastered the four elements a thousand times before in a thousand lifetimes. Now, I must do it once again. You will teach the Avatar firebending!" Roku demanded as he raised his left hand and set a tree on fire.

"Yes, yes, I will teach you," Jeong Jeong said humbly as he closed his eyes. He reopened them to see Aang still sitting in front of him.

"Really? That's great!" cheered Aang, unaware of what just transpired.

"Ugh," the master groaned at his new pupil.

The next morning, the Gang was doing things outside Jeong Jeong's hut. Gohan was practicing his swordplay, Katara was practicing her waterbending, and Sokka was fishing by the river. Jeong Jeong placed Aang on a stone in the river while he stood at the bank and began giving him instructions. "Widen your stance," the master told his pupil. Aang then widened his legs. "Wider! Bend your knees. Now, concentrate." The Avatar put on a stern look. "Good." The Deserter then started to walk away.

"Wait! What do I do now?" asked a curious Aang.

"Silence! Talking is not concentrating!" said Jeong Jeong. He then gestured to Aang's friends to prove his point. "Look at your friend, is she talking? That boy with the sword isn't talking because he's concentrating! Even that oaf knows to concentrate on what he's doing!"

"Hey!" cried Sokka.

"But what am I concentrating on?" asked Aang.

"Feel the heat of the sun. It is the greatest source of fire. Yet, it is in complete balance with nature!" answered Jeong Jeong.

"So when do I get to make some fire?" asked Aang eagerly.

The Deserter simply ordered, "Concentrate!" and left his pupil alone. Aang sighed in disappointment. His friends started giggling at him; he looked toward them which made them stop and put on innocent expressions, causing Aang to blush. Moments later, Jeong Jeong, Aang and Gohan were trekking up a large mountain. "Are we coming up here so I don't burn anything with my fire blasts?" Aang asked his master.

"No fire yet," said the Firebender.

"What?!" Aang asked in disbelief.

"You should listen to him, bro, he is your teacher," said Gohan.

"Yeah, yeah I know," said Aang before asking, "Why are you here anyway, Gohan?"

"I needed a good place to meditate and I didn't want you to have to go through this alone," answered the Ki bender. "Besides, maybe I can learn something from this Firebender's teachings."

The three eventually made it to the top of the mountain. Gohan immediately got into a meditative position and closed his eyes to concentrate. Jeong Jeong started to speak to his student. "Power in firebending comes from the breath. That is why you must master proper breath control."

"You brought me up here to breathe?" Aang questioned his master.

Instead of answering, Jeong Jeong turned his back to the Airbender and said, "Assume your stance." Aang entered his horse stance. "Wider," Jeong Jeong ordered without looking at his pupil.

"You're not even look—" Aang started to say before he was interrupted.

"Wider!" the Deserter ordered again. "Now, inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth." Aang opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted again. "Without talking." Aang took a deep breath as instructed. "Good. Keep going." The fire genius then walked away, leaving his student alone again. Aang continued his breathing exercises while his brother meditated beside him. After a few hours, Aang and Gohan returned to the campsite and Aang entered Jeong Jeong's hut while his master was having tea. "What are you doing here!? I did not tell you to stop!" the master addressed the monk.

"I've been breathing for hours," complained Aang.

"You want to stop breathing?" asked Jeong Jeong.

"I want you to stop wasting my time! I already know how to squat and breathe and feel the Sun," said Aang in frustration. "I want to know how to shoot fire out of my fingertips!"

The Fire master sighed as he spoke to his impatient pupil. "I had a pupil once who had no interest in learning discipline. He was only concerned with the power of fire, how he could use it to destroy his opponents and wipe out the obstacles in his path, but fire is a horrible burden to bear. Its nature is to consume, and without control, it destroys everything around it."

During his talk, Admiral Zhao, Commander Brute, and their men were sailing in the river, searching for any sign of the Avatar. Jeong Jeong's forest men were hiding amongst the trees; they attacked the fire soldiers by throwing their spears at them. Zhao deflected the spears and unleashed a wave of fire that warded off the men. The Admiral smiled cruelly at his display of raw power as the forest burned. "Learn restraint, or risk destroying yourself and everything you love." This was the warning Jeong Jeong gave his disciple while pouring himself a cup of tea. Aang left his master to think about what he said.

Moments later, the Deserter exited his tent to find his pupil sitting on the stone in the river with his head lowered. The monk was in a thinking position with leaves descending around him. "I thought about what you said," said Aang. "I promise I'll be more patient."

"We're going to work with fire now," said Jeong Jeong.

"Oh yeah!" Aang cheered as he jumped up with joy. He then recalled what he said and humbled himself. "I mean, let us begin."

The fire master kept his neutral expression. He then caught one of the leaves with his left hand and started to burn the center with his finger and thumb. "Concentrate on the fire. I want you to keep this flame from reaching the edges of the leaf for as long as you can," Jeong Jeong instructed Aang as he handed him the leaf. A hole appeared in the leaf and began to expand. Aang groaned but obeyed the instruction.

"Master! There is trouble!" one of the forest men alerted Jeong Jeong.

"What's going on?" asked Aang.

"Concentrate on your leaf," Jeong Jeong instructed him once again before leaving with the forest man.

"This is the worst firebending instruction ever. All he does is leave me alone for hours to concentrate or breathe," Aang complained to his companions, who were watching from the side.

"I'm sure there's a good reason," assured Katara.

"He just doesn't want you to hurt yourself or anyone else," said Gohan. "You should listen to him and take it slow for now."

"But I'm ready to do so much more," said Aang. He then decided to try something. Aang entered into his stance and started to breathe slowly while still concentrating on his leaf. The leaf began to smoke as the burning hole expanded, then suddenly combusted and fire appeared in Aang's hand. "I did it! I made fire!" announced Aang as he steadied his flame.

"Aang, that's great, but you should take it slow," Katara warned her friend.

Aang made a face at her words and clenched his fist; the fire in his hand immediately grew with this emotion. Surprised at this, Aang stumbled back and almost fell off his stone. "Careful," warned Katara.

After regaining his balance and containing his flame, Aang smiled and stated, "Now that's firebending!" The new Firebender decided to play around some more by launching a fire blast into the sky.

"Aang, you'll hurt yourself!" Katara warned him again.

"Alright bro, stop goofing around. You should wait for Jeong Jeong to come back before doing anything else," advised Gohan.

The Avatar ignored his friends' concern and started to juggle his fireball. He tossed the flame all around his body jovially. He then stopped as something crossed his mind, "I wonder how that juggler did it…" Aang then spread out his arms as he unleashed a blazing ring of fire. The heat wave stretched toward Katara who held up her hands to shield her face. The Waterbender cried in pain once the flames struck her palms. Katara sank to her knees as she concealed her hands and cried. "Katara!" cried Aang. "I'm so sorry!" The monk jumped over the river and stood by his friend.

"Katara!" cried Gohan as he ran toward her.

"Katara, what's wrong?!" asked Sokka when he came to meet his sister. He knelt beside her before glaring at Aang and aggressively asking, "What did you do?!"

"It was an accident!" replied Aang. "I was... Katara, I'm so…" He attempted to touch Katara but was tackled and pinned to the ground by an angry Water Tribesman.

"We told you not to mess around with this! Look what you did! You burned my sister!" Sokka yelled at Aang. Katara suddenly ran off and Aang could only watch her in shock. Aang stayed on the ground, looking helpless and horrified by his actions. He sat up to look at Sokka, who was still angry with him. "You burned my sister!" Sokka yelled again. He then spotted Jeong Jeong approaching them and yelled at him, "This is all your fault!"

"I know," said the Fire master shamefully. "Now pack your things. You must leave immediately."

"I'm sorry, I didn't..." Aang tried to apologize again before Sokka left him. "I'm sorry!"

Jeong Jeong stood beside the young Avatar. Aang looked at his master, who stared back at him in disappointment. The Deserter then walked away from the new Firebender. Aang was then pulled to his feet by his brother. "I'm sorry," Aang said again.

"You should have listened to Jeong Jeong," said Gohan before he went inside the hut, leaving Aang alone.

At the river, Katara gasped in pain as she hid her hands. She pulled them out and looked at the red burn marks on them. Desperate to ease the pain, she placed them in the river and closed her eyes; she felt a slight sting but then relaxed. The Waterbender opened her eyes and looked at her hands, which started to glow under the water. She pulled them out of the river and the glow faded away, her fresh burn marks gone and her hands healed. Katara stared at her hands in awe just as Gohan approached her with something in his hands.

"Katara, I brought some ointment," said the Ki bender as he held up a small jar. "Let me see your hands." The girl held up her hands for him to see, and Gohan's eyes grew wide when he saw that the burn marks were gone. "You're healed!"

"You have healing abilities," said Jeong Jeong from behind the teens. The fire master came and knelt beside them as he spoke on. "The great benders of the water tribe sometimes have this ability. I've always wished I were blessed like you, free from this burning curse."

"But you're a great master. You have powers I'll never know," said Katara.

"Water brings healing and life. But fire brings only destruction and pain," replied the fire master. "It forces those of us burdened with its care to walk a razor's edge between humanity and savagery. Eventually, we are torn apart."

"Look out!" cried Gohan.

A fire blast was suddenly shot into the river. The Deserter immediately stood up and braced himself. More fire blasts were shot at the three but the former Fire Admiral managed to deflect the flames. The three benders spotted three river boats sailing toward them. "Go get your friends and flee! Do not come back here or you will all be destroyed. Hurry!" Jeong Jeong instructed the teens. Gohan and Katara then left the old master to fight alone. Jeong Jeong faced the boats as more fire was launched around him. On his boat, Admiral Zhao spotted Jeong Jeong with his telescope; he was surprised at first, but then he smirked at the old Firebender. Jeong Jeong then waved his arms and created a massive wall of fire that stretched across the river and cut the boats off.

The boats steered to the shore to avoid the fire. Their Admiral jumped into the river and approached the flame barrier without fear. "Don't worry, men. My old teacher gave up fighting a long time ago," Zhao assured his men. To prove his point, The Admiral bended the fire wall to allow himself to pass through it unscathed. "Haven't you, Master Jeong Jeong?" The Deserter's face held a stern look as he dropped his hands and the fire barrier dissipated.

In the forest, Gohan and Katara were running back to the campsite when their path was suddenly intercepted by a green Ki blast. The benders turned to see Commander Brute slowly walking toward them. His face held its usual sinister look that it always had when he faced Gohan. The Son of Goku stepped in front of his friend defensively. Brody stopped a few inches away from the two and said, "I hope you weren't planning on running away, Gohan. We still have to catch on old times."

Gohan pulled out his sword and glared at the Energybender. "Katara, get the others and tell them to get ready to fly. I'll catch up to you guys after I'm done with this guy," Gohan told his friend. Katara looked at her friend and nodded. She quickly took off as the two Ki benders prepared to fight. Brody chuckled. "You barely held your own against me the last time we fought and that was with another fighter. What make you think you can win now?"

"Cause I've gotten stronger," replied Gohan. "And I don't need anyone to beat you!"

"We'll see about that," said Brody. "I hear the Deserter fears raw power; why don't I teach you to fear mine!" His hand started glowing with green energy. Gohan grasped his sword tightly as he gulped. The young swordsman charged at the Commander with his blade held up. He brought down his weapon and Brody countered by placing out his hand to fire a Ki blast.

At the campsite, Katara ran up to her brother who was placing their supplies on Appa. He noticed his sister coming and faced her. "Katara! Are you all right?" asked a concerned Sokka. "Where's Gohan?"

"I'm fine, and Gohan said he'll catch after he's taken care of something," replied Katara. "We've got to get out of here! Where's Aang?" Sokka pointed to Jeong Jeong's tent. The Waterbender ran to the hut, and when she entered it, she saw Aang sitting in front of the meditative candles the way Jeong Jeong did when he met him. Although he was aware of Katara's presence, the ashamed monk maintained his position.

"Jeong Jeong tried to tell me that I wasn't ready," Aang said to his friend "I wouldn't listen. I'm never going to firebend again."

"You'll have to eventually," Katara argued as she approached him.

"No, never again," Aang repeated his vow.

"It's ok, Aang, I'm healed," Katara tried to comfort him.

"What? How?" asked Aang.

"I'll explain later. But right now, we have to get out here. Zhao and his soldiers are attacking!" Katara explained urgently.

"Where?" Aang asked as he stood up.

"By the river. They captured Jeong Jeong and..." Katara started to say before she was interrupted.

"I've got to help him!" said Aang as he quickly ran out the hut.

With Gohan, the young Ki bender was tossed around by Commander Brute. No matter how many times he charged at his opponent, Brody would just overpower him with his own energy. Gohan got up and swung his sword multiple times at Brody, but he dodged every slash and blasted Gohan in the chest with a Ki blast. Gohan bounced on the ground as his sword landed flat on the ground. Brody slowly approached Gohan, who was struggling to stand. "There's a reason why you can't defeat me," said Brody. "It's because you still think like an Airbender. You hold back in your attacks."

"That's not true!" cried Gohan. His hand started glowing as he rushed at Brody. Gohan threw multiple punches at the Commander, but Brody simply blocked all of them and kicked Gohan away. Gohan then roared, creating a strong gale force attack that Brody just withstood like it was a simple breeze. The young fighter raised his hands above his head and shouted, "MASENKOHA!" as he fired his signature gold beam attack at his foe. Brody crossed his arms and took the attack head-on. The beam hit him and exploded, but when the smoke cleared, Brody stood there, completely unfazed.

"Your attacks are designed to be strong enough to take out your opponent, but you hold back to avoid killing them," said Brody. "You show too much restraint, unlike me. I was taught to be as cold and ruthless as a Firebender. That's why my Ki attacks will do more damage than yours, because I know how to use my Ki like fire!"

"Ki and fire are nothing alike!" argued Gohan.

"WRONG!" cried Brody. He then channeled energy into his right hand. "Ki and fire are more similar than you think." He then fired an energy blast at a tree; it tipped over and landed on the ground as it caught on fire from the blast. "Ki and fire exists for the same purpose: to incinerate anything that stands in its way. As a bender, we are the ones with the power to utilize the elements to their fullest extent, but if we hold back, they become weak elements."

Brody suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of Gohan; he placed his hand at Gohan's stomach while emitting green Ki. He then tossed the Son of Goku just as the Ki in his hand exploded. Gohan flew backward and landed hard on his back. He sat up to see Brody slowly walking toward him. "Just like all of the other elements, fire is derived from Ki, but unlike the other elements, Ki can become fire in an instant." Gohan quickly stood up, and rushed at the Commander; he tried to punch him, but Brody caught his fist and hit him with another Ki blast. Gohan skidded away and Brody approached him again. "Ki and fire can both be used to wipe out everything in its path. They are power, strength, and can keep going until they've eradicated their target. They let nothing stand in their way."

Gohan stood up again and fired multiple Ki blasts at his opponent. Brody simply deflected the attacks with his own Ki blast. Gohan then cried, **"KAMEHAMEHA!"** as he fired a blue beam from his palms. Brody held out his hand and waited for the blast to make impact. The magical turtle shock wave collided with the Fire Commander and exploded. When the smoke cleared, Brody stood there, unharmed from the attack. He dusted himself off and looked back at Gohan. The young fighter growled as he channeled more Ki into his hands and charged at Brody. He jumped at the Commander ready to attack, but Brody countered by opening his mouth and blasting Gohan in the chest with an emerald energy blast. The Son of Goku was knocked face first onto the ground, right where he left his sword.

"You tend to deny and contain the raw power you've been gifted, and as a result, you hold back too much," said Brody. In order to demonstrate his power, he roared and released a massive amount of energy that exploded all around him. The forest around him was soon on fire. "I don't. And that's why the Fire Nation or any Ki benders of that nation will achieve world dominance; our power is too great for anyone!"

Commander Brute leveled his hand at his fallen foe as he attempted to finish him. His hand started to glow as he poured energy into it. Gohan struggled to get up, just managing to rise to all fours. Suddenly, his sword started glowing green. Instinctively, Gohan grabbed the handle and was soon consumed by the green energy that his weapon was releasing. The swordsman's eyes were glowing green with no pupils. Brody raised his eyebrow as he hesitated to attack the boy. Gohan slowly rose to his feet as the light from his sword shined brighter. **"You wanna see raw power?!"** asked the boy. **"Then let me show you!"**

Gohan swung his blade diagonally, creating a colossal Ki wave that took Brody by surprise. The attack engulfed Brody and erupted instantly. The trees around them were obliterated and fire spread into a large circle. Brody was seen on one knee as he grasped his chest in pain. His armor was cracked across the chest plate and blood started to leak out from his chest. Brody grunted as he glared at his enemy. "YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT, RUNT!" cried Brody as he stood up and fired a large green energy blast at the boy. Gohan turned his bladed horizontally and created a green energy shield that protected him from the attack.

" **My turn, runt!"** growled Gohan. The swordsman raised his blade vertically, and at the very point of the blade, a green star started to form and expand. Gohan then pointed his weapon at the shocked Fire Commander and instantly fired a green blast at him, nailing him in the chest and knocking him into a burning tree. Brody coughed up blood and groaned, "D-Damn you…" before he passed out. His armor now had a crack shaped like an X with blood spilling from his chest. The glow in Gohan's eyes suddenly died down, as did the light from his sword. Gohan staggered a bit before grasping his head. "Whoa, what happened?" the confused boy asked himself. He looked forward to see Brody bleeding and lying on the ground unconscious.

He stared at his defeated adversary with wide eyes before looking at his sword. He then heard a screeching sound and looked up to see his magic dragon descending next to him. Icarus licked his friend's cheek, who in response petted his head. "Come on Icarus, let's get out of here," suggested the boy as he got on the dragon's back. The two then flew back to their campsite.

At the river, Jeong Jeong stood before Admiral Zhao and his men. The mentor and protégé could only stare at each other in disgust. "Look at you. You were once so great. I can't believe my former master has become nothing more than a simple savage," said Zhao harshly.

"It is you who has embraced savagery, Zhao," the Deserter replied.

"It's Admiral Zhao, now," Zhao corrected him.

"That title will not help you against the Avatar," the master warned his pupil. "Do not try to fight him! You are no match!"

"I think I can handle a child," laughed the Admiral.

"I've never seen such raw power," said Jeong Jeong.

This statement made Zhao growl just as Aang cried, "Jeong Jeong!" The Firebenders turned and saw the Avatar running toward them. "We'll see," said Zhao. "Men! Take the Deserter!" Zhao's men quickly surrounded the old master. Aang stopped running to watch what Jeong Jeong would do. The Deserter looked around before smiling at his recent pupil. He then wrapped himself in fire just as three of the men shot fire and five tried to jab him with their spears. The fire expanded and suddenly vanished along with Jeong Jeong.

"It's a trick! He's run off into the woods. Find him!" Zhao ordered his men. The fire soldiers entered the woods while Zhao prepared to battle Aang. "Let's see what my old master has taught you."

"YOU were Jeong Jeong's student?" asked a surprised Aang.

"Until I got bored of him," replied the Admiral. He launched a fire attack at the Airbender, who jumped to dodge before ducking another fire blast. The benders began circling each other in their battle. "I see he taught you how to duck and run like a coward. But I doubt he showed you what a Firebender is truly capable of!" Zhao threw another fireball and Aang dodged it by balancing on one finger with a whirlwind under his finger.

"Whoa! Wild shot!" said Aang.

"I'll show you wild!" The Admiral fired another attack at the boy. Aang deflected it with his airbending while at the same time evading two more fireballs. Zhao continued to launch fire attacks at the Avatar, but he evaded them all with no trouble. The fire started to spread around the forest, something Aang took note of. "No self control…" he whispered, his eyes wandering to the river boats as an idea came to him.

"Stand and fight, Avatar!" yelled Zhao, getting Aang's attention.

"Oh, were we fighting? I thought you were just getting warmed up," Aang mocked the Firebender.

"I was!" said Zhao. He threw more fire attacks at the Airbender, none of them managing to hit him once.

"Is that all you got? Man, they'll make anyone an admiral these days!" Aang said mockingly before dodging another flame attack from Zhao. Aang ran toward the river boats and airbended himself on one of them. He then shouted, "Ahoy! I'm Admiral Zhao!" while shaking his rear end at the Fire Admiral. Zhao growled at this and jumped onto the first river boat. He launched a fire blast that Aang dodged, causing it to hit the boat and set it on fire. Aang then jumped onto the second boat and started taunting his opponent again with a disappointed look on his face. "I don't know why, but I thought you'd be better than Zuko!"

The monk quickly fell onto his back, barely avoiding the massive blaze of glory from an angry Zhao. Once again, the fire spread across the river boat without the Admiral noticing. "Sloppy. Very sloppy," Aang continued to anger the Firebender. Zhao growled as he jumped onto the second boat. He threw another fire attack at Aang, who dodged it again. The Avatar ran inside and exited the boat as Zhao continued to set it on fire, unaware of his actions. Aang then hid behind the deck cabin while looking out for Zhao, who was on top of the cabin. The Admiral suddenly jumped down and Aang quickly faced him.

"Nowhere to run now, you little smartmouth!" said Zhao as Aang entered an airbending stance. Zhao shot another blaze that Aang easily dodged by jumping over him.

"You've lost this battle," Aang stated matter-of-factly as he landed behind Zhao.

The Fire Admiral tried to get Aang with a fire kick, but his attack was dodged once again as Aang jumped to the boat's prow. "Are you crazy? You haven't thrown a single blow!" Zhao declared angrily.

"No, but you have," Aang stated as he motioned to the boats with his left hand. Zhao looked to the left and saw all the river boats being burned away from the fire he unleashed in their fight. His mouth hung open as he realized what Aang had baited him into doing. "Jeong Jeong said you had no restraint," said Aang before he jumped into the river. Zhao shouted in anger at his defeat, causing flames on the third boat to burst out. Aang poked his head out of the river and taunted Zhao one more time. "Have a nice walk home!"

"Aang, come on! Let's go!" Sokka called from the shore where he and the rest of the Gang were waiting for him. Aang got out of the river and jumped onto Appa's head. The Gang then took off just as Aang remembered something. "Wait! Where's Jeong Jeong?" he asked his friends.

"He disappeared. They all did," replied Sokka as the teens looked down at the camp.

"I'm sure they're fine," said Gohan.

Back at the camp, Chey walked into the camp to find it completely empty. "Hey, where did everybody go?" Chey asked no one. "Very funny, guys!" At the river, Zhao's boats continue to burn as he stared into space angrily.

In the sky, Aang, Katara, and Sokka were sitting in Appa's saddle while Gohan was riding Icarus beside them. "Aang, you're burned," Katara told her friend. Aang looked at his arm to see the sleeve was torn and there was a burn mark. The Waterbender moved closer to him and said, "Let me help." She opened her pouch, pulled out some water, and wrapped it around her hand. She placed her hand on Aang's arm and the water started to glow. She took a deep breath and removed her hand; the glow faded and the water slid off Aang's fully healed arm.

"Wow! That's good water," said Aang.

"Just like at the river," said Gohan.

"When did you learn how to do that?" asked Sokka.

Katara shrugged and replied, "I guess I always knew."

"Oh... well then, thanks for all the first aid over the years! Like when I fell into the grease briar bramble, and that time I had two fish hooks in my thumb!" Sokka started rambling with sarcasm.

"Two?" asked the brothers.

"He was trying to cast the first fish hook out with another fish hook," Katara explained.

"Oh, and the time that big snake bit me! Thanks for healing that up. That was great. Really helpful," Sokka continued to ramble while the Gang flew off into the horizon.

 **A/N: Done! Whew. Now to move on to the next chapter. Thank you all for your patience! I might take a little break to catch up on my studies. I'll try to make time for the next chapter but don't expect it till August. Plus I've got these other Fanfiction ideas going through my head and I want to write them all down before I forget how to write them. (Don't worry, they're not a lot.) Thanks for your supportive reviews and stay tuned. Oh, one more thing, haven't done this for a while but here are some good stories.**

 **Recommendations: The New Face of Justice by Comorep677**

 **Dragon Tail Z- adopted by yours' truly**

 **This War of Mine by Sivam-Surprise**

 **A Saiyan in Earthland by Revolve X (Original author for Dragon Tail Z)**

 **Unfading Scars by Sally B. Mcgill**

 **RWBBY – The Shapeshifter by sparkydragon98**

 **Until next time –TTFN AntiHero Out!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I'm back! And it's time for another exciting chapter of Five Elements. There might be a few improvements to my writing style. Let's just say that a friend gave me some tips on how to improve my chapters and my Beta reader and I used them. I just hope they make my chapters easier to read and help the readers focus on the story rather than the mistakes (assuming there are any he or I missed). Now with these formalities over with, I give you Five Elements!**

 **Disclaimer – I own nothing**

 **Chapter 16 – The Northern Air Temple**

It was currently nighttime. A group of people were sitting on benches all around a campfire, listening to a man tell stories about Airbenders. Among this group of people were the four teens that were traveling to the Northern Water Tribe.

"So travelers, the next time you think you hear a strange, large bird talking, take a closer look; it might not be a giant parrot, but a flying man! A member of a secret group of air walkers who laugh at gravity and laugh at those bound to the earth by it!" the man concluded his tale.

Aang and Gohan smiled after hearing the man's story. Katara's face showed enjoyment while her brother just looked bored. The storyteller then got up and went around, holding out his hat for people to place money into."Aren't Airbender stories the best?" Aang asked.

"Was it realistic? Was that how it was back then?" Katara asked the monk.

"I laugh at gravity all the time," Aang replied."Ha-ha! Gravity."

"Those stories sure bring back memories," Gohan said.

The storyteller then came up to Sokka and shook his hat of money. "Jingle jingle," he said expectantly.

Sokka dug into his pockets and pulled out food crumbs and a twitching bug. "Sorry," he apologized.

"Aw, cheapskates!" the man groaned as he turned away. Aang got up and followed the man.

"Hey, thanks for the story!" Aang thanked the storyteller.

"Tell it to the cap, boy," he replied as he shook his hat at the monk. One of his coins fell out of the hat, which Momo picked up and placed back into the hat while Aang tried to find money in his pockets. "Aw, much obliged, little bat thing!" the man said as he petted the Lemur bat.

"It means a lot to hear Airbender stories," Aang said "It must have been a hundred years ago your great grandpa met them."

"What are you prattling about, child? Great grand-pappy saw the air walkers last week!" the storyteller told Aang as he pointed at his great grandfather, who waved at the monk. Aang's eyes grew wide from this information. The next morning, the Gang was sailing above the clouds, heading toward the Northern Air Temple. As they flew, Aang spotted snow capped mountains. "Hey, we're almost at the Northern Air Temple!" Aang told his friends."This is where they had the championships for sky bison polo."

"That was fun. It would be nice if we could do that again," Gohan said.

"Do you think we'll really find Airbenders?" Katara asked her brother, who was carving something out of wood.

"You want me to be like you, or totally honest?" Sokka shot back.

"Are you saying I'm a liar?" Katara questioned while folding her arms.

"I'm saying you're an optimist. Same thing basically," he responded.

"Hey guys, look at this!" Aang alerted his friends when he saw the Northern Air Temple. Just like the Southern one, this temple stood on a mountain peak. But unlike its sister temple, the Northern temple had people swerving all around it in mid-air while smoke was flowing out of the temple, indicating that people were living there.

Katara gasped at the sight of the people in the air. "They really are Airbenders!"

But as they got closer to the temple, Aang and Gohan saw the truth. "No, they're not," Gohan corrected her.

"What do you mean they're not? Those guys are flying!" Sokka stated.

"No, Gohan's right,"Aang said while frowning. "They're gliding, not flying. You can tell by the way they move. They're not airbending. Those people have no spirit." The monk then spotted one of the gliders heading toward them. On it was a young boy wearing goggles with an inability to use his legs, thus having to be in a wheelchair that was connected to the glider. The Water Tribe siblings ducked as he sailed over their heads and laughed. "I don't know, Aang. That kid seems pretty spirited!" Katara said while pointing to the boy. The glider flew past Appa again and looked back at Aang, smirking. Accepting the challenge, Aang smiled before he jumped off of his bison and opened his glider to join the boy in the air.

The other gliders started flying all around the Gang, making it a little hard for Appa and Icarus to fly. Katara was suddenly flung backward into her brother. "We better find some solid ground before it finds us!" Sokka suggested. The flying beasts quickly landed on the temple's veranda.

The boy in the wheelchair continued to laugh as he soared through the skies with Aang on his tail. Although the glider was enjoying their game, Aang, on the other hand, was still upset. The kids down below were watching the aerial competition between the two gliders. "Go Teo! Show that bald kid how it's done!" one of the kids cheered. Teo and Aang continued to play follow the leader as they flew above the clouds. They swerved in the air as Aang pursued Teo all the way to the side of the temple where the two were eventually neck and neck. The gliders flew downward as they circled each other.

"Hey there! You're pretty good," Teo complimented Aang.

"Yeah, I know," Aang agreed. "But I can do more than fancy gliding!"

The two gliders looped through the air, and the Airbender flew toward one of the temple towers. He then let go of his glider and ran very fast along the side of the wall. He created an air scooter and rode it on the tower side with the glider flying right above him. Then he released the air scooter and hung back onto his glider. Teo watched in astonishment as Aang glided back beside him. "Wow! I don't think I can do that! But here's a good one..." Teo said. The back of his wheelchair pulled a wire to open a small orb and started releasing a smoke stream through the sky. He began to loop and swerve through the air with the smoke trail following his every move. After one final swoop, the smoke trail ceased and there was an image of Aang's bitter expression in the sky; the children laughed at it while Aang frowned.

"What do you think?" Teo asked the monk.

"It's great," Aang responded, but didn't mean it.

The two flew toward the temple balcony. Aang descended next to his friends and closed his staff. Teo made a hard landing, causing him to slide roughly until he pulled the break on his wheelchair, immediately stopping himself. His friends then removed the glider attached to his wheelchair and he wheeled over to the Gang.

"Hey! You're a real Airbender!" Teo stated when he observed Aang."You must be the Avatar! That's amazing! I-I-I've heard stories about you."

"Thanks," Aang said, flustered.

"Wow! This glider chair is incredible!" Sokka exclaimed as he examined the glider set for Teo's wheelchair.

"If you think this is good, wait until you see the other stuff my Dad designed," Teo replied.

Teo moved toward the temple entrance with the Gang following close behind. They were soon led to the main chamber, which was full of steam-powered mechanisms, wheels, gears, and pipelines along with things of Airbender religion. Aang and Gohan's eyes wandered around as they observed the changes in the place they used to visit a century ago. A statue of an Airbender now had pipes attached to its head as it rotted away. Everywhere, different types of machinery were working throughout the main chamber. Aang seem to grow more disappointed the more he saw.

"Wow!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Yeah, my Dad is the mastermind behind this whole place!" Teo explained "Everything's powered by hot air. It even pumps hot air currents outside to give us a lift when we're gliding." As he spoke, a woman stepped into a cage where steam from the bottom hoisted the cage to a higher level.

"This place is unbelievable," Aang said.

"Yeah, it's great isn't it?" Teo stated.

"No, just unbelievable," Aang repeated himself before walking away sadly.

"Aang used to come here a long time ago. I think he's a little shocked it's so... different," Katara elaborated nicely to Teo.

"So better!" Sokka corrected.

Katara and Gohan walked over to Aang, who was staring at another part of the chamber that was different. The mural of the Air Nation on the wall that was once inspiringly marvelous now had numerous tubes piercing into and sticking out of it, not to mention multiple cracks, making it dreary and vile. "This is supposed to be the history of my people." Aang said.

"I know this is a lot to take in, but it's been a century; someone was bound to claim this place and make it their own," Gohan told him. "To tell you the truth, I'm actually glad these people are living here. I was kinda afraid that this place would be just like the Southern Air Temple, void and lifeless."

"So was I, but I didn't expect a bunch of outsiders to be living here." Aang replied. "I can't believe how much this place has change."

Katara places her hand on Aang's shoulder, but he shrugged it off and went over to another part of the chamber. Aang walked over to a fountain that was gushing out green liquid into its basin. The fountain then releases a mist of black smoke which startles Aang. Katara comes up to comfort him. "I'm sure some parts of the temple are still the same." she assured the depressed monk.

A few minutes later, Teo and the Gang move on to another part of the temple. They entered the courtyard where many statues of great monks showed no sign of change. "It's nice to see even one part of the temple that isn't ruined." Aang pointed out.

"Look out!"a voice cried from nowhere. The head of one of the statues is suddenly blown clean off by a wrecking ball, causing dust to fly everywhere. When the dust clears, a big hole is seen where the statue once was; middle aged man with a monocle and an apron along with some construction workers were on the other side of the wall. The man stepped through the hole into the courtyard to address the Gang. "What the doodle! Don't you know enough to stay away from construction sites? We have to make room for the bathhouse!" He said.

"Do you know what you did? You just destroyed something sacred! For a stupid bathhouse!" Aang yelled furiously.

"Well yeah, people around here are really starting to stink." the man said while waving his hand in front of his noise.

"This whole place stinks!" Aang yelled now enraged. He swung his staff, creating a wind blast that knocked the wrecking ball off the mountain."This is a sacred temple! You can't treat it this way. I've seen it when the monks were here. I know what it's supposed to be like."

"The monks? But you're 14!" the Mechanist said in disbelief from observing Aang.

"Dad, he's the Avatar. He used to come here a hundred years ago." Teo cleared his father's confusion.

"What are you doing here? Who said you could be here?" the Avatar demanded to know.

"Hmmm... doing here...A long time ago, but not a hundred years, my people became refugees after a terrible flood. My infant son, Teo, was badly hurt and lost his mother." the Mechanist held back tears after remembering his tragic past. "I needed somewhere to rebuild and I stumbled across this place. Couldn't believe it! Everywhere pictures of flying people. But empty! Nobody home! Then I came across these fan like contraptions!"

"Our gliders!" Aang corrected the man.

"Yes, little light flying machines. They gave me an idea." the Mechanist continued to explain."Build a new life for my son, in the air! Then everyone would be on equal ground, so to speak! We're just in the process of improving upon what's already here and after all, isn't that what nature does?"

Although his friends were moved by the Mechanist's speech, Aang still seemed a little unnerved. "Nature knows when to stop." He said.

"I suppose that's true." the Mechanist agreed with the monk. "Unfortunately, progress has a way of getting away from us." his face became depressed again until his attention was grabbed by three lit candles. "Look at the time." He then turned to his men. "Come, the pulley system must be oiled before dark!"

"Wait, how can you tell the time from that thing?" Sokka asked the man."The notches all look the same."

"The candle will tell us." the Mechanist replied. "Watch."

The two stared at the candle in the middle. The flame suddenly popped four times. "You put spark powder in the candle." Sokka said, amazed.

"Four flashes, so it's exactly four hours past midday." the Mechanist explained. "Or as I like to call it four 'o candle." Sokka laughed at the man's joke, which made him smile. "If you like that, wait till you see my finger safe knife sharpener. Only took me three tries to get it right." The Mechanist held up his hand and removed the three fake fingers. He tossed them to the tribesman, who instinctively caught them and gasped.

"Ahem," someone coughed, getting everyone's attention. They all turned to where the voice came from and saw a teenage boy standing in the entrance to the courtyard. By the looks of it, he didn't appear that much older than Gohan and he had the same spiky black hair and black eyes he had. His outfit consisted of a crimson colored gi, a black long sleeve undershirt, a teal belt, black shoes, and a gold cape. He was leaning against the wall, crossing his arms. "Am I interrupting?" he asked.

"Ah, Beat! Nice of you to drop by!" the Mechanist greeted the boy. "How are you?"

"Hello Mechanist. I'm fine, thank you," Beat greeted back before he entered the courtyard. "How are things with you?"

"I'm, uh, still working on my… latest invention," the Mechanist replied while sweating. "But rest assured, I'll have it up and running in no time." He seemed a little nervous about answering the boy, which the Gang noticed.

"Who are you?" Gohan asked the boy.

Beat raised an eyebrow at the spiky haired teen before stepping into the courtyard to approach the Gang. Before he could introduce himself, the Mechanist spoke up. "This is Beat. He comes by every now and then to assist me in my work if ever required." Beat then walked past Teo and greeted him. "Hey Teo, nice to see you again."

"Likewise, Beat," Teo greeted back.

When Beat stopped walking, he stood directly in front of the Gang, specifically Gohan. The Son of Goku stared at the new boy with curiosity, which the boy returned. "Have we met before? You seem really familiar," Gohan questioned the boy.

"I feel the same way about you, pal," Beat replied.

Gohan's mind was suddenly drawn back to another time.

 _Flashback –An older version of Gohan, about twenty years old, was standing in the air. The sky looked reddish-orange with a little yellow as if it were always dawn. There were spiked mountains all over the area, a large pool of red liquid that had a huge mountain spike that held a giant crystal ball. White formless beings were floating through the sky, needles were sticking out of the ground everywhere, and there was an apple tree that produced blue apples in some sort of garden._

 _Next to Gohan were a younger teen, a man, a different version of Prince Trunks, and Beat. He, the teen, and Beat all had gold spiky hair; the other man and Trunks had the same hairstyle but their hair was long enough to reach their backs. The five Ki benders were battling against what could possibly be the weirdest if not the scariest looking creature that Gohan had ever laid eyes on. The enemy creature charged at the team of fighters; they all looked at each other and nodded before charging at the enemy._

 _Flashback ends_

"You're an Energy bender?" Aang inquired. "So is Gohan."

That comment was enough to snap Gohan back into reality. The new boy looked toward the Son of Goku questionably. "So you're an Energy bender too huh?" Beat asked Gohan.

"Yeah," Gohan replied. "Just like you."

"But you're not from the Fire Nation like a few I've met in my travels," Beat pointed out.

"I was raised by the Air Nomads," Gohan answered.

"Interesting," Beat said. "I'm curious to see how strong you are, so how about a sparring match?"

"Sounds like fun!" Gohan replied with a smile.

"Great! Let's go now!" Beat requested. The Two Ki benders started walking away from the temple courtyard. Right after they left, the Mechanist instructed Sokka to follow him as he was leaving the courtyard. Soon it was only Aang, Katara, and Teo left in the patio. "Hey Aang, I wanna show you something," Teo said to the monk.

Seconds later, Teo was leading the Avatar and the Waterbender through the temple hallway. "I just can't get over it. There's not a single thing that's the same," Aang stated.

Teo stopped moving and picked up a hermit crab as he spoke. "I don't know about that. The Temple might be different, but the creatures that live here are probably direct descendents of the ones that lived here a long time ago." He then passed the crab to Katara.

"You're right." Katara agreed. "They're kind of keepers of the temples origins." She passed the crab to Aang, who smiled.

"Besides, there's one part of the temple that hasn't changed at all," Teo assured them.

The three then found themselves in front of a large door. It was a huge wooden door that had three wooden air symbols sticking out of the door in an upside down triangle like formation. Each emblem was connected by tubes that took the shape of a circle, aside from the two horns at the bottom. It was an exact replica of the door to the Sanctuary at the Southern Air Temple. "Hey! It's just like the one in the other Air Temple," the Water tribe girl pointed out.

"Only an Airbender can open it – so inside it's completely untouched, just the way the monks left it," Teo told the Airbender. "I've always wondered what it was like in there." Although he was aware of what Teo was asking, Aang didn't seem to want to help at all.

"Aang?" Katara asked her friend.

The monk lowered his head before replying, "I'm sorry, this is the last part of the temple that's the same as it was. I want it to stay that way."

"I completely understand. I just wanted you to know it was here," Teo responded, though he was a little disappointed.

"Thank you," was all Aang could say before the three walked away from the Sanctuary door.

Elsewhere, the Mechanist was leading Sokka down a dark, thin stairway. The source of light they had was from dim lanterns that were powered by fireflies. "These lanterns are terrible! I can't see," Sokka complained. He opened the lid to see the numerous lightning bugs inside, allowing one to escape. "Why would you ever want to use fireflies for light?" he asked.

"Hey! Close that up! They'll get loose!" the Mechanist warned the teen."Fireflies are a non-flammable light source." The two proceeded until they came across a sealed door. The slight leaks in the door were blocked by a caulk. The Mechanist felt the caulk before turning to Sokka. "Cover your nose and hold your breath," he instructed. He then opened the panel on the door and the two peeked inside the chamber.

"Okay, so you brought me all the way down here to see an empty room," Sokka said.

"Wrong," the Mechanist replied as he closed the panel. "It's filled to the brim with natural gas. Came across it my first time here. Unfortunately, I was carrying a torch at the time. Nearly blew myself and the whole place even more sky high. Thought my eyebrows would never grow back!" He raised his lantern to his head to show the result of his first time at this gas chamber."Anyway, there's a vital problem that needs solving. From time to time we have gas leaks and they're nearly impossible to find." Both men started checking the door for leaks.

"So this place is an explosion waiting to happen?" Sokka asked the Mechanist.

"Yes, until I figure out how to locate something I can't see, hear, smell, or touch." the inventor replied.

Outside the temple, Gohan and Beat were standing face to face on a nearby cliff. The wind blew around them as they stared at each other anxiously. "You ready to do this?" Beat asked Gohan.

"Wait a minute," Gohan said before taking off his sword and placing it aside. He flexed his back a few times before taking a fighting position. "Now I'm ready."

Beat nodded before taking his own stance. "Alright then, show me what you got."

"Okay!" Gohan responded. He started off by rushing at his opponent. Gohan swung his right arm, intending to hand chop Beat, but he blocked the attack with his left arm. Beat countered by throwing a punch at Gohan, which he ducked. Gohan retaliated by kicking at Beat multiple times, but he dodged every strike. He then grabbed Gohan's leg and tossed him into the cliffside. Gohan quickly burst out and nailed Beat in the face with a skull bash attack. Beat backflipped to land a few inches away on his feet and rushed at his opponent. He punched Gohan in the gut before knocking him on the head.

Gohan sat up and rubbed his head as he glared at Beat. "Is that all you got?" he asked. "Hardly!" Gohan replied as he stood up and ran toward Beat. He started throwing multiple strikes at his sparring partner, but he blocked every attack before kicking the son of Goku away. Gohan bounced off a rock and charged at Beat once more. He managed to land a kick to Beat's gut before back flipping away. Beat charged at Gohan to punch him, but his assault was blocked. Beat started throwing multiple punches at Gohan, who dodged all of them before jumping into the sky.

"Hey, get back down here!" Beat cried when Gohan stayed airborne.

"Why don't you just follow me up here?" Gohan inquired.

"Don't be ridiculous, I can't fly!" Beat replied.

"You can't fly? But you're an Energy bender!" Gohan argued.

"That can't fly," Beat repeated.

Gohan was about to descend to the ground when he got an idea. He smirked at his opponent and said, "I'm afraid you're gonna have to make me come down, Beat!"

"What?!" Beat yelled. "You can't be serious!"

"You bet I'm serious!" Gohan said. "If you want to take me down, you'll have to do it while I'm in the air!" He then channeled Ki into his hands. **"Rapid Fire!"** He started firing multiple blasts at Beat. The teen started running very fast as the blasts detonated behind him. Gohan continued to fire as Beat continued to run. Beat then decided to stop fleeing and turned to facing the oncoming attack. He kicked it back at its launcher; Gohan simply deflected the attack with his hand. He smirked until he saw another energy blast coming at him; acting on instinct, he quickly bent backwards, just barely evading the attack. Gohan then looked down and saw Beat aiming with his hands while channeling Ki into them. "Try this! **Blast Barrage!** " Beat cried as he fired multiple energy blasts at his opponent.

Gohan zipped through the air as he dodged every Ki blast that was thrown at him. One of Beat's blast managed to hit Gohan, halting his movements and allowing Beat to blast Gohan repeatedly. Gohan was hit with so many blasts that it got to the point where he was consumed in a huge dark cloud of smoke. Beat eventually ceased firing to conserve his energy. When the smoke cleared, Beat could see that Gohan put up a golden energy barrier to shield himself from the blasts. The son of Goku released the force field before descending to the ground. The two fighters stared at each other for a minute before they charged at each other head on. They resumed trading blows with one another until they punched each other in the face. They backed away from each other and held their fighting positions. Slowly, the hard looks on their faces became smiles of enjoyment.

"That was fun," Gohan spoke as he dropped his stance.

"Ditto. You're pretty good, Gohan," Beat praised his opponent as he dropped his stance as well.

"Thanks, you're not so bad yourself," Gohan returned the compliment. "However, there is the issue of you being unable to fly."

"Yeah, guess that puts me at a disadvantage," Beat acknowledged his flaw. "Do you think you can teach me?"

"Sure, that shouldn't be too hard. You already know how to bend Ki as well as I can, so it's just a matter of showing you how to use it to fly," Gohan replied."We can start right now if you want."

"Sounds good," Beat agreed.

Back at the temple, many kids were gliding around the temple while Aang, Katara, and Teo stood at the temple terrace. Katara was holding her own glider and Teo was attempting to teach her the art of gliding. "The wind will carry you. It supports something inside you – something even lighter than air, and that something takes over when you fly," Teo explained.

Katara looked down from the edge of the balcony; seeing how high they were made her afraid and hesitant. "I've changed my mind. I think I was born without that something," she said.

"Impossible! Everybody has it!" Teo laughed.

"Spirit," Aang answered.

"What?" Teo asked.

"That's the something you're talking about," Aang clarified.

"Yeah, I suppose it is," Teo agreed. Minutes later, Katara stood at the edge of the balcony with her glider positioned over her. Teo had his own glider reattached to his wheelchair as he waited behind the Waterbender. "You ready?" he asked her.

"No," Katara replied. She jumped off the balcony regardless, and Teo flew after her. Katara's fearful screams soon turned into sounds of laughter as she glided through the air. Katara and Teo glided around the temple before they were joined by Aang. "I can't believe I'm flying!" Katara stated happily.

"Just make sure to keep your mouth closed so you don't swallow a bug!" Aang warned her. Momo flew beside them with his mouth open, allowing him to capture a few bugs.

"Teo was right about the air! All I had to do was trust it. Let it carry me," Katara stated.

"Even though Teo's not an Airbender, he really does have the spirit of one." The Airbender then flew toward the temple balcony and landed next to the Mechanist's son. "I've been thinking. If you wanna see what's in that room, I'd be happy to open the door for you," he offered Teo.

"Great," Teo said.

The two boys then looked up at Katara, who was calling out to them for help in landing. "Wait! How do I land this thing? What if I land – eh!" she started to ask before gagging. "Blech! Yech! Bug! Bug! That was a bug!"

Meanwhile, Gohan and Beat were relaxing on a mountain. The two Energy benders were sitting down in a meditative position face to face with their eyes closed. After a few minutes, Beat opened one of his eyes and looked at his teacher. "So, why are we doing this again?" Beat asked.

"Shh," Gohan instructed him. "You're supposed to be concentrating."

Beat closed his eye again, only to open both a few seconds later. "On what exactly?"

"The energy around you," Gohan replied. "When I was taught by the monks, they explained to me how channeling the energy around you and mixing it with your own will not only help you replenish your Ki, but it can also help you release your energy better."

"I know how to release my Ki," Beat said.

"I know you do, but its how you release that will help you to fly," Gohan said. "As a Ki bender you should be able to channel your Ki throughout your entire body, but you seem to focus on releasing it only through your hands."

"And meditating will help how?" Beat asked.

"Feel the energy around you, while at the same time channeling your own," Gohan answered. "It starts from your stomach, where your Ki is stored, and then spreads throughout your body calmly. Just close your eyes, relax your muscles, clear your mind, and concentrate."

Beat closed his eyes again and focused. Tiny specks of energy started flying around the two Energy benders, sticking to their skin like dandelions. Pretty soon, Beat and Gohan were surging with energy. Beat's came off like a red fiery aura, while Gohan's was white and sparked like electricity. Beat opened his eyes when he felt a strange sensation, and he gasped when he saw the Ki in the air around him along with his own Ki clashing with Gohan's.

"Stay calm," Gohan quickly told him. "Don't lose your focus."

Beat obeyed his teacher's instructions and continued to focus on channeling his Ki. After a few extra minutes of meditation, both Energy benders stood up while still emitting their Ki throughout their bodies. "Now all that's left for you to do is to release your Ki through the soles of your feet," Gohan told his pupil. He demonstrated by levitating himself into the air. "Focus on moving your energy downward and pushing it out your feet." Beat nodded before closing his eyes again. After five minutes, Beat started to slowly rise off the ground. Gohan smiled as he watched his student levitate himself. Pretty soon, Beat had managed to levitate himself to the same height as his teacher. "Congratulations, you've taken the first step in flying," Gohan said to Beat. "How do you feel?"

"I feel fine. Like I'm as light as air," Beat replied. "Feels like I'm still standing on something even when I know it's nothing. I didn't think it would be this easy."

"You're a fast learner," Gohan said. "Now let's see how high you can go."

Gohan immediately flew higher into the sky and Beat flew after him. The student continued to follow the teacher until both of them managed to rise above the clouds. "Wow, this is pretty high!" Beat observed as he stared down at the earth. He could see many mountains and the Northern Air Temple even though they appeared to be small from his point of view. "I can see the whole valley from up here!"

"So, are you tired yet?" Gohan asked.

"Are you kidding? I'm still full of energy!" Beat assured him.

"In that case, why don't you try moving forward?" Gohan instructed. "Just focus on releasing your Ki backward in order to move forward in the air."

"Got it!" Beat said. After two minutes his body started to slowly move forward. He stopped when he was a few inches away from his teacher. "How's that?" he asked.

"Pretty good," Gohan said. "Now it's time to kick it a notch."

"How?" Beat asked.

"Let's play follow the leader," Gohan suggested. "And I'm the leader." Immediately, Gohan flew away at high speeds to the right. Understanding what this was about, Beat quickly flew after his teacher. Gohan flew through the air with great speed; he looked behind himself to see Beat slowly catching up to him. Eventually, Beat flew right beside Gohan as the two Ki benders soared through the sky; they swerved upward before diving through the clouds. Gohan flew in every direction and Beat managed to follow him with ease. Finally, Gohan stopped himself and so did Beat. "Nicely done." Gohan applauded his student. "Now it's time to see how fast you can go."

"What game are gonna play now?" Beat questioned.

"Tag!" the Son of Goku replied before appearing in front of his pupil and tapping his chest. "And you're it!" Gohan flew away from his pupil faster than he could tag him back. The boy swam the skies with great speed with his new student right on his tail. Gohan glanced behind him to see his pursuer closing in on him fast. _"Wow, he's a lot faster than I expected,"_ Gohan thought. He smiled from the thrill he was getting from this speed chase. He quickly stopped and flew upward just as Beat tried to grab him. Beat fumbled a bit before going higher after Gohan, and soon the two fighters were neck and neck. Beat reached for Gohan again, but he zipped away from Beat's grasp.

The Son of Goku zipped through the air back and forth, making it very hard for Beat to tag him. Beat flew as fast as he could, but every time he got close to Gohan, he would instantly slip past Beat by changing direction. Gohan then dove toward one of the mountains and Beat flew after him. Gohan was a few inches away from Beat as they descended toward the mountain at high speed. Just as Gohan was about to collide with the hard surface, he swerved and flew back up. However, Beat, since his reaction time was slower than his teacher's, swerved and skidded across the ground, causing him to crash into the dirt.

He stood up and shook his head. He looked around for his teacher when he suddenly heard, "Over here!" from the temple mountain. Beat glared at him before charging toward him. Gohan smiled as Beat got closer without thinking about what Gohan was planning to do. At the last second, Gohan disappeared from Beat's sight, causing him to crash face-first into the mountain side before he could react. The impact caused Beat to fall unconscious before he started to fall down toward the valley. Gohan quickly flew after him and managed to grab his cape; he then carried him to another mountain and laid him against a tree before he sat down. A few minutes later, Beat woke up and looked towards his teacher, who was munching on some food. "How do you feel?" Gohan asked Beat.

"I've got a little headache, but the damage to my pride is greater," Beat replied as he sat up. "Guess I haven't aced flying yet."

Gohan nodded. "Being able to soar through the skies is one thing, but the ability to maneuver in midair with little reaction time is another, especially in a battle," Gohan told him. He then tossed Beat some of his food. "Eat up and get some rest to regain your strength. I'm going to check on my friends, but we'll continue our training later." Beat nodded before he started to eat while his teacher flew back to the Air Temple.

At the Temple, the Mechanist was in his workshop with Sokka. The old inventor was looking at some plans for a new machine while Sokka was looking at some of the things on the shelf. The tribesman knocked off a few things, which got the Mechanist's attention. "I said don't touch anything!" the inventor said to the boy before a few more things fell from the shelf. The Mechanist went to help Sokka pick up the stuff. "Oh, don't worry, that experiment's old, and that was part of last week's lunch."

"Ugh! Week old egg smell!" Sokka gagged after sniffing the air.

"Quick! Find that egg!" the Mechanist warned as he and Sokka started crawling around the workshop in search of the rotten egg.

Meanwhile, Aang, Katara, and Teo are standing in front of the Sanctuary door as the Avatar prepared to open it. "I can't believe I'm finally going to see what's inside!" Teo exclaimed. Just then, Gohan came running up to them. "Hey guys, what's going on?" he inquired. "Aang's about to open the Sanctuary doors," Katara answered him. The Air Nomad took a stance and thrust his hands forward, bending two wind streams into the horns on the door. The air traveled through the pipes and two of the three Air insignias flipping over while releasing air.

Back at the work shop, Sokka and the Mechanist were still frantically searching for the week old egg. "How could something that's so small you can't even see it make such a big stink?!" Sokka asked.

"That's the solution to our problem!" the Mechanist exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Sokka agreed, having the same idea as the Mechanist. The two idealists turned to face each other as they continued to discuss the solution. "If we put a whole mess of rotten eggs in the cellar where the gas seeps up..."

"The gas will mix with the smell of rotten eggs..." the Mechanist continued.

"Then, if there's a leak..." Sokka stated.

"You smell rotten eggs! Then you just follow your nose to the place where the smell is coming from..." the Mechanist went on.

"And plug up the hole where the gas is escaping!" Sokka concluded before he and the Mechanist both raised their arms in excitement and exclaimed, "You're a genius!" A bell in the workshop suddenly started ringing. "Something's wrong, I've got to go," the Mechanist said urgently. He then hurried out the workshop and Sokka followed after him.

The final Air insignia flipped over and the Sanctuary doors opened slowly. The four teens stepped inside the Sanctuary wearing terrified expressions. The room that was supposed to contain statues of the previous Avatars now held many weapons, machines, and torture devices, but worst of all was the unfinished war balloon that bore the symbol that represented who these weapons were made for: The Fire Nation. "What is this?" Gohan asked in disbelief.

"This is a nightmare," Aang stated in horror.

The Mechanist soon appeared behind the children in dismay with Sokka right behind him. "You don't understand," he said.

The Avatar turned to the inventor and jabbed a finger at him. "You're making weapons for the Fire Nation!" he declared in anger. His accusation seemed to sadden the old man.

"You make weapons for the Fire Nation!?" Sokka asked in anger and disbelief. The Mechanist's expression grew sadder and he stared down in shame.

"Explain all this! Now!" Teo demanded.

"It was about a year after we moved here. Fire Nation soldiers found our settlement. You were too young to remember this tale. They were going to destroy everything, burn it to the ground. I pleaded with them; I begged them to spare us. They asked what I had to offer. I offered... my services." After explaining, the father pleaded with his son."You must understand, I did this for you!" The boy only turned away from his father, feeling hurt. The Mechanist left the children to continue his work.

Minutes later, he was back in his workshop experimenting on his model version of the war balloon that held two eggs in it. He let the balloon float to the ceiling when Aang, Gohan, and Teo entered his workshop. "When are they coming?" Aang asked immediately.

"Soon. Very soon," the Mechanist replied after looking at his candle for the time. "Beat's arrival was a message that they were coming today."

"Beat's a member of the Fire Nation?" Gohan asked, surprised. The inventor nodded in response.

"You can't give them more weapons," Aang warned him.

"If I don't give them what they want, they will destroy this place," the Mechanist argued.

"We understand why you're helping them, but your inventions should be used to help people like it helped your son," Gohan admonished. "If you continue to aid them in this war, more people will suffer." The model balloon floated in front of them before bursting into flames and crashing into the ground. The Mechanist grabbed a cloth and started dousing the fire with it.

"How can I be proud of you when your inventions are being used for murder?" Teo asked his father.

The Mechanist looked at his son and replied, "I need some time to think." A tinkling bell suddenly started ringing, which alarmed the Mechanist. "You need to leave! Go!" he told the boys.

"We're not leaving!" Teo stated.

"Then hide, quickly!" the Mechanist said as he directed the boys to behind some things. He then pulled on a rope that opened a trap door. Steam came out of the entrance seconds before a middle-aged man in a Fire Nation robe was elevated to the workshop.

"You know better than to keep me waiting. Give me what you owe us so I can be on my way," the Emissary ordered the inventor while approaching him. The boys watched as the Mechanist looked down in hesitation, which disturbed the Emissary. "Well? Is there a problem?" the Emissary asked as he got in the Mechanist's face.

"No, right this way," the Mechanist responded as he directed him to the exit of his workshop. The War minister walked toward the door before it was suddenly slammed shut by an air wave, courtesy of Aang. The Airbender and the Ki bender jumped in front of the door with angry expressions.

"The deal's off!" Aang declared.

"The Avatar!" the War minister announced in shock.

"Boys, don't get involved!" the Mechanist warned them.

"If I don't get what I came for, the Fire Nation will burn this place to rubble!" the Emissary declared as he pointed at the Mechanist.

"That's not going to happen, not on our watch!" Gohan proclaimed as he pointed his sword at the Emissary, making him back away.

"Get out of here!" Aang ordered the man as he smacked him with an air blast. "You're leaving empty handed!"

"Then the destruction of this temple will be on your heads," the Emissary assured them.

"We won't let you burn this place down!" Gohan declared. "And tell Beat, I'll see him soon for another training session."

The War minister then left through the same trap door he entered and Aang closed it with an air wave. Moments later, the Gang and Teo were on one of the temple bridges, trying to come up with a plan to protect the temple from the Fire Nation's inevitable attack. "This is bad! Very bad!" Sokka stated.

"Aang, what are we gonna do?" Katara asked the monk. "How can we possibly keep them all away?"

"I'll tell ya how," Aang replied. He then pointed to the skies where a few kids were gliding. "We have something they don't. Air power! We control the sky. That' something the Fire Nation can't do. We can win!"

"I want to help!" the Mechanist stated as he approached the Gang and smiled.

"Good, we'll need it," the Avatar said as he and Teo smiled back. Aang then noticed his brother walking away from the group. "Gohan, where are you going?"

"You guys will have to do this without me; I have some unfinished business with Beat," Gohan replied. Before anyone could respond to his answer, the Son of Goku jumped of the temple bridge and flew off into the air.

The Gang, along with Teo and his friends, were all in the Mechanist's workshop, where the Mechanist and Sokka were explaining how they got the war balloon to work properly. "We finally got the war balloon working, thanks to Sokka," the Mechanist praised the tribesman. "This boy's a genius!"

"Thank you. You're a genius!" Sokka praised him back.

"Thank you!" the Mechanist accepted the returned praise. The back and forth praise made Aang and Katara annoyed as they shared strange looks while turning to each other.

"See, the problem with the old war balloon was you could get it airborne, but once you did, it just kept going." Sokka demonstrated with the model balloon as he elucidated. "You could put a hole in the top, but then all the hot air would escape. So the question became, how do you keep a lid on hot air?"

"Ugh, if only we knew," Katara mumbled, which made her, Aang, and Teo laugh.

"A lid is actually the answer," Sokka stated." If you control the hot air, you control the war balloon."

After hearing Sokka's solution, the three teens stared at him in amazement. "Hmm. That's actually pretty smart," Katara agreed.

"Okay, we've got four kinds of bombs," Sokka began to explain the weaponry. "Smoke, slime, fire and..."

"...stink. Never underestimate the power of stink!" the Mechanist advised.

Meanwhile, Beat was standing on the mountain where Gohan left him. He stood there patiently waiting when his teacher descended in front of him. Gohan's face held a neutral expression while Beat smirked at him. "My boss told me you'd be here," Beat taunted. "Ready for another training session?"

"You're with the Fire Nation, aren't you?!" Gohan said more than asked in a stern voice.

Beat's face became serious. "If you know that, then you know that defying my boss' demands means the Temple must fall," he said.

"Beat, this is wrong!" Gohan said. "First you guys were using the Mechanist to make weapons for hurting people, and now you're just going to wipe out the Temple and its people!"

"You shouldn't have gotten involved; it wasn't supposed to be this way," Beat growled.

"We had no choice; we couldn't allow you or the Fire Nation to use our Temple to manufacture weapons for war!" Gohan argued.

"Then you leave me no choice, the Temple must be destroyed!" Beat said. He then raised his hand at Gohan, who stood directly in front of his view of the Air Temple, while channeling Ki throughout his body. "Now step aside!"

"So that's it? You're just gonna use my teachings to destroy the place I care about?!"Gohan questioned his pupil.

"You may have taught me how to fly and how to control my Ki better, but my guidance and loyalty has always been with the Fire Nation. This is a time of war, and I choose to side with the Nation that raised me!" Beat replied.

"Well, so do I!" Gohan stated as he started emitting his own Ki.

"So be it!" Beat said. He then fired an energy blast at his former teacher. Gohan quickly blocked it by crossing his arms. He lowered his arms and saw that Beat was gone. He immediately turned around and saw his opponent flying toward the Northern Air Temple. Gohan quickly ascended and flew after him. In a few seconds, Gohan managed to get close enough to grab Beat's cape and toss him backward. Beat caught himself and glared at his foe, who was holding out his arms in a defensive position. Gohan entered a fighting position while wearing a determined expression. "If you want to get to the Temple, you'll have to get through me!" he declared.

"You can't stop both me and the army!" Beat stated.

"My brother and his friends will handle the army!" Gohan assured. "But you won't be going anywhere until you **beat** me!" He smirked at his own joke.

"Fine!" Beat complied as he took his own fighting stance. The two fighters flared their Ki, which came out like fiery auras. Their energies expanded to the point where they began to push against each other. They eventually charged at each other and started trading blows. Gohan managed to land the first hit when he palm struck Beat's chest. Beat flinched, allowing Gohan to kick him in the face. Beat grit his teeth as he fired two Ki blasts at Gohan; the Son of Goku deflected the first attack but was hit in the face by the second one. Beat then flew above his opponent and clamped his hands together before swinging them downward, knocking Gohan down. The Ki bender of the Air nation quickly recovered and flew back at Beat, elbow bashing him in the chin. Beat countered by gut punching Gohan.

The two then resumed their battle before Beat flew back a bit and started firing multiple energy blasts at Gohan. The former teacher started deflecting all the blasts with ease. Beat then fired a big energy blast that Gohan caught with his hands. Beat then appeared behind Gohan and launched another big energy blast at his back. The blast made contact with its target, detonating and causing the first one to explode as well, consuming Gohan in the process. Beat's view of Gohan was blocked by a cloud of smoke. He suddenly heard Gohan shout, " **Masenko…Ha!"** and saw a purplish-gold beam heading straight toward him.

He quickly dodged it just as Gohan flew up to him and punched him in the stomach. Beat countered by kicking Gohan in the chin; Gohan paid him back with a hand chop to the face. Beat then elbow bashed Gohan in the face and Gohan skull bashed him, followed by Beat kneeing his former teacher in the chin. The two then reeled their fists back before swinging full force and punching each other in the face.

Elsewhere, Aang, Katara, Appa, Momo, Teo, and many of the other gliders were lined up at the Temple balcony along with inhabitants of the Air Temple. Some of the children were looking over the edge for the army. "They're coming!" a little girl cried.

"Are we ready?" Teo asked.

"Yes, but where's Sokka with the war balloon?" Katara questioned as she looked for her brother.

"We'll have to start without him," Aang declared as he jumped off his Sky Bison and opened his glider staff. Teo grinned as he put on his goggles; all the gliders were lined up in two rows with Aang and Teo in the lead. Teo gave a thumbs up to one of the other gliders, and then Aang ran off the balcony and started to fly. Katara pushed Teo's wheelchair and he took off as well. Pretty soon, all of the children started gliding through the air with the people cheering. The gliders soared above the clouds where they were hidden from the Fire Nation troops scaling the temple mountain. The gliders then dove down the mountain and start dropping multiple bombs on the Fire soldiers. Some of them fell off the mountain trail.

"Take them out of the sky, now!" one of the soldiers ordered.

The Fire soldiers readied their spears as the gliders circled back, but smoke bombs were thrown at them, blinding them and making them cough due to the smoke. The gliders continued to throw bombs at the Fire Nation troops. Aang then jumped off his glider and started to ride on his air scooter; he rode on the trail, knocking some snow off the path before jumping back onto his glider. The small avalanche collapsed onto the soldiers as it slid down the mountain; the remaining soldiers started to flee back down the mountain trail.

"We've got 'em on the run! We need more slime!" Aang exclaimed.

Above the clouds, Appa was stationary by the side of the mountain as the gliders passed by him either ascending or descending. Katara and Momo were handing more bombs to the gliders as they swooped over the sky bison. Suddenly, several grappling hooks shoot out of the clouds, barely missing Appa, who flew away to evade them. The hooks latched onto the mountain and multiple tanks were pulled upward. Each tank had four spiked wheels, allowing them to scale the mountain with ease. The gliders quickly dropped more bombs onto the tanks, but they did nothing to slow them down. The Avatar slammed his staff into the mountain right above one of the grappling hooks and heaved it off the cliffside.

The tank started to descend but another grappling hook was launched upward; Aang quickly dodged it and it latched onto the mountain, allowing the tank to resume scaling the mountain. The tanks made it up the cliff and began approaching the Temple on a flat surface. The Firebenders inside started shooting fireballs at the gliders, which they avoided before dropping more bombs onto the tanks, only for them to once again prove to be ineffective. One of the slime bombs landed inside the tank, sliming all the soldiers inside. Aang landed in the middle of four tanks and used his airbending to blow them away. The tanks landed upside down in the snow, but the center cabins simply flipped over and the machines resumed moving. They started firing at the Airbender and he jumped onto one of the tanks to avoid the fire attacks.

"Those things are unstoppable!" Katara stated as she rode on Appa over the tanks with Teo beside her.

"I think I know how they work," Teo replied. "I remember my Dad tinkering with the counterbalancing system. Something to do with water. Works great, huh?"

"Water? Can you get me close to one?" Katara asked as she got an idea.

"No problem!" Teo said.

Aang continued to deflect fireballs from the five tanks while countering with his own air strikes. His attacks proved futile and the tanks slowly moved toward him. Teo suddenly swooped over them and dropped Katara beside the Avatar. The Waterbender blew ice cold steam at one of the tanks, freezing it in place. She then bended the water inside, causing bolts to fly out, and the wheels fell off the tank. One of the tanks fired a grappling hook at Aang, grabbing his staff in the process, but Katara froze it with more ice, causing it to collapse on the ground, dismantled. Although they took care of two of the tanks, there were still many more coming at them. Aang leapt in front of Katara and started batting fireballs away as two tanks moved in closer. The sky Bison then appeared in front of the benders and knocked the two tanks away. The two climbed onto Appa's saddle and ascended back to the skies, where they saw multiple tanks and soldiers approaching the temple. It didn't seem like they would win this battle. They flew back to the balcony to regroup with the other gliders.

"We're out of bombs!" Teo told them.

"Come on, Sokka," Katara pleaded. "Where's that war balloon?"

Her question was answered when the first War Balloon floated up from the Temple, carrying four large sacks/slime bombs. The balloon was red with a black fire nation insignia. Sokka and the Mechanist were riding in the balloon's basket. The balloon sailed over the Fire Nation troops, who ignored it and proceeded with storming up to the Temple. "Hey, why aren't they shooting at us?" Sokka asked.

"The insignia! They think we're on their side!" the Mechanist exclaimed.

"Then I guess they won't see this coming," Sokka said as he cut off one of the sacks with his knife.

"Bombs away!" the Mechanist yelled as the sack fell onto the Fire Nation invaders. The sack exploded when it hit the ground, creating a large wave of slime that washed the Fire soldiers away. The two geniuses dropped the three other slime bombs, stopping most of the soldiers but leaving the tanks unharmed. "Oh no! That was the last one!" Sokka shouted worriedly as the tanks started to grapple themselves onto the next cliff.

"Wait a second, you smell that?" the Mechanist asked while sniffing the air.

"Rotten eggs!" Sokka replied. The two then looked down and manage to locate the smell from within a crevasse. "There! That's where the gas is escaping!" After thinking for a moment, the water tribesman got an idea as the tanks got closer to the temple. A few residents attempted to dislodge the grappling hooks, but their efforts were futile. Sokka then started to heave the coal-burning plant that supplied the hot air to the balloon, off the basket.

"What are you doing?!" the Mechanist asked the teen. "That's our fuel source!"

"It's the only bomb we've got!" Sokka explained. After one more heave, the two managed to throw the furnace down the crevasse. Everyone anxiously waited as the soldiers got closer to the temple. The Air temple was suddenly surrounded by a large fiery explosion due to the coal furnace igniting the escaping gas. The temple was eventually consumed by a wall of black smoke; when it finally cleared, the grappling hooks were seen broken as part of the mountain was destroyed. The Fire soldiers started to flee back down the mountain while the inhabitants of the Air temple watched.

"Look! They're retreating!" Aang announced.

"Yeah!" the people cheered in triumph.

"We're going down!" Sokka yelled as the balloon started to plummet toward the ground.

"No! Sokka! Hold on!" Katara yelled to her brother.

The Avatar immediately opened his glider staff and flew after the balloon. The war balloon continued to descend as it lost more hot air."Get ready!" Sokka instructed the Mechanist as he twirled a rope with his boomerang at the end. Aang soared by the balloon, and Sokka threw his boomerang. It hooked onto Aang's foot and the Airbender flew back to the temple with the two inventors trailing behind him as the balloon descended below the mountain.

Back with Gohan, the two Energy benders were still going at it. They grabbed each other's hands and started pushing against each other with their Ki. Gohan eventually broke their struggle and fired an energy blast that knocked Beat away. The Ki bender of the Fire Nation regained his balance and charged at his foe. He kicked Gohan upward before flying after him; Gohan shook it off and started flying away from Beat. They both flew through the air with Gohan in the lead, but every maneuver Gohan made, Beat managed to keep up with him. _"So, he's gotten better and in a short time,"_ Gohan thought. _"Well, let's see if he's learned from last time."_

Gohan suddenly sky rocketed upward and Beat followed him. Beat raised an eyebrow at Gohan's strategy. Gohan quickly swerved and dove toward one of the cliffs with Beat on his tail. Just as they were inches away from the cliff, Gohan swerved swiftly and flew back up like before while Beat couldn't react fast enough, but before he could make impact, he shouted, " **Not this time!** " as he swung one of his arms and fired an energy blast at the mountain. The explosion propelled him away from the cliffside and toward his enemy. Gohan turned around and his eyes grew wide when he saw Beat coming at him incredibly fast. He was elbow bashed in the face before Beat flew above him and hit him with a massive Ki blast. Gohan crashed into the mountain and Beat started firing multiple energy attacks at the cliff.

When he stopped, the cliffside was covered with smoke. Beat glared at the place where his opponent crashed as he waited patiently. " **Ka…me…ha…me…ha!** "Gohan cried as he fired a blue energy beam at Beat. The former pupil crossed his arms to withstand the attack. The beam exploded on impact, and Beat's body was smoking from the attack, but he stood firm. Gohan stepped out from where he crashed and stood on the mountain ledge. The two stared at each other as the wind blew around them. "We don't have to do this Beat, you're not a Firebender!" Gohan stated.

"And you're not an Airbender," Beat argued. "Yet you side with an extinct nation when you should be siding with the strongest Nation."

"What makes you think the Fire Nation is the strongest?" Gohan asked.

"The fact that we're winning this war! No matter what the cost or the sacrifice, all that matters in the end is the Fire Nation conquering the world!"

"How can you just help the Fire Nation spread fear and pain to every nation?" Gohan asked in disbelief.

"Because I've seen what this war does, and what I've learned is that it's best to choose the winning side than the losing!" Beat replied.

"That's not true! You don't have to side with the Fire Nation just because they're winning!" Gohan assured him. "You're an Energy bender, Beat; you can use your gifts to help end this war, to help people rather than hurt them. I know deep down you're a good person like me!"

Beat simply closed his eyes and said, "There's no point in talking anymore! It's time to end this fight and see to it that your temple burns to the ground, even if I have to do it alone!" He then cupped his hands together and started chanting. **"Ka…me…ha…me…"** " _I can't believe he knows my father's technique,_ " Gohan thought as he watched a blue sphere of Ki start to form and expand in between his palms. Gohan looked down in disappointment before looking back up in determination. "This is a new move I've been meaning to try out; I didn't think I would it on a friend, but I guess I have no choice." He started channeling all of his Ki into his fists. His hands were eventually consumed by his expanding energy. "Here I come!" he cried as he jumped and flew toward Beat.

"This ends now!" Beat declared before thrusting his hands forward. **"Haaa!"** He fired a much larger blue beam at his charging opponent. Gohan made no attempt to dodge the attack and instead threw his left fist forward. _"What's he doing?!"_ Beat thought as he watched Gohan's counter strike. The Son of Goku's Ki enhanced fist collided with the beam and began penetrating through the blast. "What?!" Beat cried out in shock as Gohan got closer, and the beam in his hands eventually dissipated as Gohan stopped right in front of him.

"Take this!" Gohan cried as he reared his right fist back. **"The Fist of the Mighty Oozaru!"**

As Gohan swung his right super charged fist forward, Beat got a glimpse of a giant monstrous ape throwing its huge fist at him in sync with Gohan. The fist collided with Beat's cheek, probably breaking the bones within and immediately knocking him out. The two fighters started plummeting towards the mountain. Gohan grabbed Beat and tried to fly to safety, but his body refused to respond. "Darn it, out of gas!" he yelled. "Icarus!"

Right on time, the boy's flying beast flew below and caught them both just before they could hit the ground. Icarus carried the two to the top of a mountain and landed. Gohan climbed off and petted Icarus' back. "Thanks boy," he said and received a lick from the tiny dragon. He then carried Beat and placed him on the ground before climbing back on his dragon. Beat slowly stirred awake and stared at Gohan. "So, I lost, huh?" he stated more than asked.

"Yeah," Gohan replied.

"Then why not finish me?" Beat asked in confusion. "We're from different nations; we're supposed to be enemies."

"I stand by what I said earlier. I know you're a good person, and maybe sparring with you will help you see that," Gohan said.

"Or prove to be a mistake that you'll regret in the future," Beat muttered.

"I'll take my chances," Gohan replied. Icarus then flapped his wings and flew toward the Northern Air Temple, leaving Beat to recover.

At the Air temple, after their victory over the Fire Nation, everyone gathered together at the Temple balcony. Some children were still gliding around the Temple even though it was dusk.

"You know what? I'm really glad you guys all live here now," the monk told the Mechanist and Teo as he picked up a crab. "It's like the hermit crab. Maybe you weren't born here, but you found this empty shell and made it your home. And now you protect each other."

"That means a lot coming from you," Teo said.

"Aang, you were right about air power," Sokka stated to the Airbender as he pointed to the sky. "As long as we've got the skies, we'll have the Fire Nation on the run!"

Everyone started cheering aside from the Mechanist, who looked down as if something was disturbing him. Even though he was cheering with the others, Gohan couldn't help but feel troubled by his encounter with Beat. _"I taught him how to fly; he could teach it to others now,"_ he thought as he stared off into the horizon.

Deep in the forest where the war balloon landed, multiple Fire Nation Soldiers had gathered around the machine, and were trying to inflate the balloon by using their firebending to create hot air. Behind them stood the war minister and Beat, watching as the balloon expanded. "This defeat is the gateway to many victories," the Emissary said as he smiled, watching the balloon being fully refilled. Just then, a screeching noise was heard, making everyone look up. A Messenger Hawk suddenly appeared and swooped down, landing on the War minister's shoulder. He pulled out the message from its carrier and read it. His eyes grew slightly wide as he looked toward Beat.

"What's the message?" Beat asked his superior.

"It's from Admiral Zhao. He wants to recruit you for his army," the Emissary replied.

 **A/N: Done, and to the reader who requested me to put Beat and Note in this story, in the words of Super 17, "I've made half of your wish come true." Now it's time to move onto the North Pole Siege. Stay tuned, 'cause I assure you, you're gonna like my surprises. Plus after the siege, you'll get to see the origins of Gohan and Trunks and how they ended up in their respective Nations. Until next time, TTFN AntiHero out!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: The time… is now! After much work and patience, we're finally at the start of the North Pole Siege. Thank you to all my readers, followers, and those who favorited this story; I made it this far thanks to your support. I hope I won't disappoint you with the chapters of the North Pole. Now, without further ado, it's time for Water, Earth, Fire, Air, and Ki: Five Elements. (P.S. Forgive me, but some of Gohan's quotes are from Dragon of the Sapphire Flame; I couldn't come up with any other thing for him to say.)**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own Dragon Ball Z or Avatar: The Last Airbender**

 **Chapter17-The Waterbending Master**

After many days of traveling by air, land, and sea, the Gang had finally made it to the North Pole. Now all they had to do was find the Northern Water Tribe, which was easier said than done. They searched for a full two days and came across nothing, and everyone was starting to feel fatigued and moody. Appa flew across the ocean as the Gang began their third day of searching. Aang sat on Appa's head, controlling the reins, Katara sat behind him, Gohan rested on the saddle beside his sleeping dragon, and Sokka was leaning over the back of the saddle.

"I'm not one to complain, but can't Appa fly any higher?" a grouchy Sokka asked as Appa descended closer to the water from exhaustion.

The monk turned around and snapped, "I have an idea, why don't we all get on _your_ back and _you_ can fly us to the North Pole?!"

"Right, 'cause this guy is capable of carrying three teens and a bison anywhere," Gohan replied sarcastically.

"You know what, I'd love to!" Sokka insisted falsely before turning around to shake his rump. "Climb on everyone, Sokka's ready for takeoff!" The lemur jumped onto Sokka's back, which irked him.

Katara, who was lazily staring at empty space, decided to try to calm everyone down. "Look, we're all just a little tired and cranky because we've been flying for two days straight," she spoke.

"And for what? We can't even find the Northern Water Tribe. There's nothing up here," Sokka said in annoyance.

The Gang continued to fly and search when Gohan suddenly sat up and yelled, "Incoming!" A gush of water shot up and froze into an ice spike in front of Appa. Aang screamed as he pulled the ropes to steer Appa to the right. Everyone in the saddle held on tightly while screaming as the bison evaded the ice. Another ice spike extended from the water, and Appa moved left to dodge it, but this one latched onto his foot, causing him to spiral out of control until he crashed into the ocean. The water then froze around Appa, keeping him in place. The immobilized beast was soon surrounded by several small boats that appeared from behind some icebergs, carrying legions of men in water tribe attires.

"They're Waterbenders! We found the Water Tribe!" Katara exclaimed.

* * *

Meanwhile, at a Fire Nation Harbor, many ships were docked and many Fire Nation Soldiers were guarding a tent that bore the Fire insignia. Inside the tent, Admiral Zhao was in front of a large map of the four nations. "He's heading north. The Northern Water Tribe. The Avatar needs to master waterbending. He's looking for a teacher," Zhao explained as he turned to face six Fire officers; all of them were sitting down cross-legged on the floor as they listened to the Fire Admiral.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get him!" one of the Fire Captains suggested hastily.

"Patience, Captain Li. This isn't some little Earth village we can just march into. The Water Tribe is a great nation. There's a reason they've survived a hundred years of war. The frozen tundra is treacherous. The landscape itself is an icy fortress. We'll need a massive invasion force," Zhao stated. Just then, one of the Fire guards entered the tent.

"Excuse me, sir, but the Energy bender known as Beat has just arrived on our docks," the guard reported.

"Excellent. Have two guards escort the boy to Commander Brute so that he can debrief him on what he'll be doing here," Zhao ordered.

* * *

Back at the North Pole, the Waterbenders that captured the teens were now escorting them to their city. As Appa swam beside the tribesmen, Aang stood up and cried, "There it is!" as he pointed to something in the distance. The Gang gazed upon the icy palace of the North Pole.

"The Northern Water Tribe..." Katara said in awe.

"After all this time…" Gohan said.

"We're finally here…" Sokka finished.

When they reached the city wall, a few Waterbenders moved their arms in unison. A semi-circular entrance opened up through the wall, leading into the city. One of the Waterbenders gestured toward the city, giving the Gang permission to enter the palace. Appa swam through the tunnel and stopped at the inner wall. The walls each had about four Waterbenders on top; they moved their arms in sync, lowering the walls and clearing a path for their visitors.

"I can't believe how many Waterbenders live up here!" Katara said.

"We'll find a master to teach us, no problem!" Aang replied confidently.

When the wall finally sank beneath the water, the Gang entered the city and were soon led by a couple of Waterbenders on another small boat. As they swam through the city, the teenagers basked in awe at the magnificence of the City of the Northern Water Tribe. Many of the residents of the North Pole stared in curiosity as the foreigners traveled through their home. Aang waved at the Northerners while smiling brightly. Another boat passed them, and riding in it was a Waterbender along with a beautiful white-haired teenage girl elegantly dressed in a purple coat instead of blue like the other Northerners. Sokka stared at the girl and blushed while wearing a dreamy smile; he slid to the tip of Appa's tail to watch the girl a little longer. "This place is beautiful," Katara said in amazement.

"Yeah, she is," Sokka agreed while still staring at the girl.

* * *

Now nighttime, Zuko's ship was at a dock. On deck, the crew and General Iroh were gathered around a campfire, enjoying their music night. Lieutenant Jee was playing the banjo while another crew member was beating a drum, and together they played a staccato tune. As they played, the Dragon of the West sang. "Winter, spring, summer and fall. Winter and spring, summer and fall. Four seasons, four loves. Four seasons, four loves." As Iroh sang, two crew members were dancing together around the fire. Watching quietly, Prince Trunks stood to the side of the deck with his arms crossed. Music night was suddenly interrupted when the crew noticed that Admiral Zhao and two Fire soldiers had boarded their ship.

At the North Pole, every citizen was gathered in the royal palace for the feast that was held in honor of the Gang. Three Water tribesmen were beating on drums in unison to start off the celebration. Aang, Gohan, Katara, and Sokka sat next to the Chief of the Water Tribe respectively. The tribesman looked over to where some Northerners were bringing a large plate of food for Appa and Icarus. The Bison scared them off before he and the dragon began to chow down. In the center of the palace, four men lowered a large crab into a pool of boiling water. The Chief then stood up to speak to his people.

"Tonight, we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Southern Tribe, and they have brought with them someone very special, someone whom many of us believed disappeared from the world until now. The Avatar!" Chief Arnook announced as he gestured to Aang. The crowd began cheering and clapping. "We also celebrate my daughter's 16th birthday. Princess Yue is now of marrying age."

The Chief stood aside for his daughter, her two attendants, and another teenage girl to present themselves to the crowd. Sokka stared at the Princess with wide eyes, recognizing her from earlier while Gohan stared at her friend. "Thank you, father," Yue spoke before addressing her people. "May the great Ocean and Moon Spirits watch over us during these troubled times."

"Now, Master Pakku and his students will perform!" Arnook declared as he motioned to an old Waterbender and two of his pupils. The three Waterbenders began bending in sync; they pulled out three streams of water from three large jugs as the crowd cheered. Aang and Katara smiled at each other while clapping excitedly. The three then bended the water around each other before mixing it into one stream. Not as entertained as the Waterbending companions, Sokka and Gohan started munching on the food presented in front of them. Gohan stopped to look at the girl that was beside Princess Yue. She had black eyes and hair like him. Her hair was tied in a ponytail by a red bow, which didn't match the rest of her blue clothing. She wore a navy blue, long sleeved undershirt that stretched to the lower half of her fingers, a light blue gi, a teal belt that tied a blue cloth to her waist, and black shoes. (A/N: Basically Note's second outfit except blue to match the Water Tribe design.) The Son of Goku was suddenly in a trance.

 _Flashback- Gohan once again saw another version of himself, but this time it was younger and with a tail. The four year old fighter was hovering above a wasteland that seemed to be the planet itself, dying. The Tree of Might stood tall, preserving itself by sucking the life of everything. Gohan suddenly recognized this vision from when he came across Hebi's forest. Standing beside little Gohan was his father, Goku, another being Gohan couldn't recognize, and the Water Tribe girl, except she was wearing a crimson gi instead of a blue one._

 _In front of them were the evil Goku look alike and five other odd looking Ki benders. Each side prepared to face off in battle to determine the fate of the world. The evil twin Goku (Turles) smirked as he snapped his fingers, ordering his men to attack. Gohan and his allies charged at the enemies as Turles watched calmly. Gohan began to battle two of Turles' Ki benders on his own; he skull bashed the first one and fired an energy blast at the second one. The twins regrouped and attacked Gohan at the same time, but the young fighter effortlessly countered their attacks before finishing them with a double Masenko. Gohan was kinda surprised at seeing his past life wipe out someone without hesitation._

 _Turles then appeared in front of Gohan with an evil smirk. Gohan tried to punch his face, but the older warrior simply grabbed his fist and kneed him in the gut. After the other good guys defeated their foes, they turned their attention to Turles, and they were stunned to see him holding Gohan by the head. Turles created a power ball and tossed it upward before clenching his fist. The ball burst in the sky, creating a blinding light that temporarily blinded everyone. The evil Ki user then forced Gohan to look at the energy ball in the sky. His tail started twitching madly as Gohan suddenly transformed into a giant bloodthirsty ape just as Turles destroyed his power ball._

 _After swatting aside all of the good guys, including one with pointy ears, green skin, and a purple gi, Oozaru Gohan continued to rampage through the city until the Water Tribe girl flew in front of him. The Heroine's hair suddenly changed from black to gold and her black eyes to teal. Oozaru Gohan and the Heroine roared at each other before charging at each other to duke it out.-Flashback ends_

The Energy bender was suddenly brought out of his thoughts when he noticed Princess Yue and her friend approaching them. Sokka was still stuffing his face with food until he noticed Princess Yue and her friend coming to sit next to him. He quickly turned away and swallowed his food before attempting to woo the Water Tribe princess.

"Hi, there. Sokka, Southern Water Tribe," Sokka tried to introduce himself smoothly.

"It's very nice to meet you," Yue greeted him while bowing. "I'm Princess Yue and this is my friend, Note."

"Pleasure to meet you," the girl beside Yue named Note greeted.

"Likewise," Sokka replied. After an awkward moment of silence, Sokka spoke to Yue again. "So... uh... you're a Princess! You know, back in my tribe, I'm kinda like a Prince myself!"

His sister laughed beside him. "Ha! Prince of what?" she asked.

"A lot of things! Uh, do you mind? I'm trying to have a conversation here!" Sokka told his sister angrily.

"My apologies, Prince Sokka," Katara mocked her brother while bowing.

Sokka then turned back to the Princess. "So it looks like I'm gonna be in town for awhile. I'm thinking maybe we could...do an activity together?" the Tribesman asked the white haired girl.

"Do an 'activity?'" Yue repeated his words.

Embarrassed, Sokka stuffed food back into his mouth and faked a cough, before facing his sister, who was amused by his failed attempts to smooth talk the princess. "Very smooth," Katara stated sarcastically. Note was giggling at this awkward conversation when she noticed Gohan looking their way. The spiky haired teen quickly looked away when Note looked at him. "Hey, who's the boy with the spiky hair that keeps staring at us?" Note asked. All eyes were focused on Gohan, who went back to stuffing his face, trying to act normal.

"Oh, that's Gohan," Sokka replied as he gestured the Ki bender to come toward them. "Hey Gohan, get over here!"

The Son of Goku stopped eating and went over to sit beside Sokka. He extended his hand toward the girls and greeted them. "I'm Gohan, it's a pleasure to meet you." Princess Yue bowed in return while Note shook his hand.

"Why were you staring at me?" Note immediately inquired.

"No reason, it's just that you seem familiar to me," Gohan replied.

"Ok. So Gohan, you don't look like you're from the Southern Water Tribe," Note observed.

"I was actually raised in the Air Nation, just like my brother Aang," Gohan explained.

"You're the Avatar's brother?" Princess Yue asked.

"Yeah, but we're not related by blood and I'm not an Airbender like him. I'm an Energy bender," Gohan said.

"You're an Energy bender, just like Note," Yue said.

" _Energy benders really are appearing all over the world,"_ Gohan thought. "If you're an Energy bender, then you must be pretty strong."

"You could say that," Note replied.

"Well then, how about a friendly spar tomorrow?" Gohan requested. "I want to see what you can do."

"You're on!" Note complied.

After the Waterbending performance, Chief Arnook had called Master Pakku to the side in order to introduce him to Aang. "Master Pakku, meet your newest student, the Avatar," the Chief stated and Aang bowed to his new teacher.

"Just because you're destined to save the world, don't expect any special treatment," Pakku told the boy, clearly unimpressed by his title.

Disregarding that comment, Aang spoke to his master. "My friend and I can't wait to start training with you – after we relax for a couple days."

"If you want to relax, then I suggest visiting a tropical island. If not, I'll see you both at sunrise," Pakku told the boy harshly before walking away. "Good night." Aang look at the Chief, who just shrugged.

* * *

Back on Zuko's ship, the Son of Ozai was keeping to himself in his dark chamber with his arms crossed while he leaned against the wall. His door suddenly opened and Trunks and Iroh walked in. "For the last time, I'm not playing the sumki horn!" Zuko told them without looking.

"No, it's about our plans. There's a bit of a problem," Iroh said.

Admiral Zhao stepped into Zuko's room and announced, "I'm taking your crew."

"What?!" Zuko asked as he faced and approached Zhao.

"I've recruited them for a little expedition to the North Pole," Zhao explained to the prince.

"Uncle, is this true?" Zuko asked the fire general.

"I'm afraid so. He's taking everyone. Even the cook!" Iroh replied while weeping a bit.

"Sorry you won't be there to watch me capture the Avatar. But I can't have you getting in my way again," Zhao said mockingly. Zuko charged at the Fire Admiral but he was quickly restrained by Trunks, who shook his head. Zhao then wandered to the side of Zuko's chamber and saw the dual broadswords on the fire prince's wall. His face twisted in anger and shock as he recognized the swords to be the same ones used by the Blue Spirit, who, along with the Red Spirit, snuck into his fortress, bested his soldiers, and rescued the Avatar. His mind flashed back to where the Spirits had threatened to kill the Avatar and his brother if not allowed to escape. Zhao then reached for one of the swords and the princes' face expressed fear. "I didn't know you or Trunks were skilled with broadswords, Prince Zuko," Zhao remarked as he tried out the blade.

"We're not. They're antiques, just decorative," Zuko denied.

"Have you heard of the Blue Spirit, General Iroh?" Zhao asked. "Or the Red Spirit?"

"Just rumors. I don't think they are real," Iroh answered.

"They're real, all right. They're criminals, enemies of the Fire Nation," Zhao stated before handing the sword to Iroh and exiting Zuko's room. "But I have a feeling that justice will catch up with them soon. The offer to join my mission still stands, General Iroh, if you change your mind." He then closed the door to the chamber.

* * *

The next morning, Katara and Aang were walking up the stairs to meet Master Pakku for their first lesson in Waterbending. The Water Tribe girl could barely contain her excitement. "I've waited for this day my whole life! I finally get to learn from a real waterbending master!" Katara said eagerly to Aang. At the top of the stairs, Master Pakku was practicing bending a blob of water, but he lost his concentration and dropped the water when Aang shouted, "Good morning, Master Pakku!"

"No, please, march right in; I'm not concentrating or anything," Pakku said, clearly annoyed.

"Uhhh... this is my friend, Katara, the one I told you about?" Aang introduced the Southern Waterbender to the Northern one. Katara bowed to the old master.

Master Pakku raised his eyebrow at Katara. "I'm sorry. I think there's been a misunderstanding. You didn't tell me your friend was a girl," Pakku explained as he created a stool of ice to sit on. "In our tribe, it is forbidden for women to learn waterbending." Hearing this, Katara's expression instantly turned to one of shock and anger.

"What do you mean you won't teach me?!" Katara asked Pakku as she stormed up to him. "I didn't travel across the entire world so you could tell me no!"

"No!" Pakku repeated sternly.

"But there must be other female Waterbenders in your tribe!" Katara argued.

"Here, the women learn from Yugoda to use their waterbending to heal," Pakku explained to the girl. "I'm sure she would be happy to take you as her student despite your bad attitude."

"I don't want to heal, I want to fight!" Katara stated.

"I can see that. But our tribe has customs, rules," Pakku replied.

"Well, your rules stink!" Katara argued.

"Yeah! They're not fair," Aang argued alongside his friend. "If you won't teach Katara, then –"

"Then what?" Pakku asked as he stood up.

"Then you won't teach me either!" Aang declared before walking away.

"Well, have fun teaching yourself. I'm sure you'll do a great job," Pakku said.

"Wait, Aang didn't mean that," Katara told the master before going after her friend. She grabbed his shoulder and faced him. "You can't risk your training for me. You have to learn from Master Pakku, even if he is a big jerk," Katara told the monk. Though reluctant, Aang nodded in agreement and turned to face his new master while Katara left.

"Why don't we get started then," Pakku suggested before nailing the Avatar with a water blast.

* * *

Elsewhere, Gohan and Note stood a few feet away from each other in a plain, white field beside a flowing stream. Gohan took off his sword and started flexing. "Ah, that takes a load off," he said. Note removed her coat and tossed it aside. "I hope you know I won't go easy on you," she stated as she took a fighting position. "Good, I wasn't planning on going easy either." Gohan replied while taking his own fighting stance. "Ladies first."

"Why thank you," Note spoke before she rushed at Gohan. She started off by trying to kick Gohan. The boy simply dodged her attack, but she didn't stop with just one kick as she continued to throw kicks at her opponent. Gohan managed to deflect every strike until he finally grabbed her leg and tossed her into an ice building. Gohan stared at the crumbled ice blocks, waiting for Note to come out. After a few minutes, Gohan saw that the ice was starting to melt. A yellow beam suddenly burst out of the ice pile and headed straight for Gohan. The spiky haired teen immediately jumped to the right, only for the blast to curve itself and fly toward him again. He jumped over and landed on his feet. The blast swerved upward before flying back down at its intended target.

" _Is she bending her beam to be as malleable as water?"_ Gohan thought. He then jumped into the air and stayed there. The beam then looped and flew upward. Gohan quickly descended to the ground with the beam on his tail. Finally, he fired his own energy blast at the beam, dissipating it. "You'll have to do better than that, Note!" Gohan called. "With pleasure!" the girl said from behind her opponent. Gohan turned his head and was met with a punch that knocked him away. He landed face first in the snow while Note laughed.

Gohan quickly stood up and dusted himself off. "Nice trick, but now it's my turn," he said as he created two ki spheres in his hands. He threw the two energy attacks at the girl, but she simply smirked as she caught both of them with her hands and threw them back. Gohan quickly dodged them but left himself open, so Note took the opportunity and charged at him with a full frontal assault. Gohan instinctively blocked her assault and the two started trading blows. Gohan ended it when he palm struck Note away. She placed her hands on the ground to stop herself while at the same time firing another energy blast into the snow.

The blast traveled deep under the snow before curving and drilling upward toward Gohan. Sensing the blast coming from under him, Gohan quickly flew into the air just as the blast resurfaced and flew after him. "Whoa! You can fly?!" Note asked her opponent.

" _It's like Beat all over again,"_ Gohan thought before answering, "That's not all I can do," as the blast came at him. The Son of Goku took a deep breath and blew a strong breath of air at the beam, sending it back at Note. The girl quickly jumped away just as her attack collided with the ground. She looked up to see Gohan with his hands above his head. **"Masenko…ha!"** Gohan cried as he fired his signature blast at Note. The girl crossed her arms as the blast made impact with the ground in front of her, blowing her back a bit. She fell on her back but quickly stood up just as Gohan appeared behind her. "Had enough?" he questioned.

"Not even close!" Note replied as she tried to back kick Gohan. He ducked her strike and blew her away with a kiai blast. Note then countered by firing another ki blast at the spiky haired teen. Gohan flew through the air to avoid it but Note directed it to fly after him with her hands. Gohan then descended to the ground and ran toward Note, only to stop at her face and disappear so that her blast would collide with her. When the smoke cleared from the blast impact, Note was seen shielding her face with her arms. She saw Gohan standing in the stream and fired another beam at the water. The attack created a giant wave that blocked Gohan's view. Note suddenly jumped through the wave and threw a punch at Gohan. He simply grabbed her fist and kicked her away. She regained her posture and fired a beam at Gohan. The blast was moving at a slow rate, which confused the spiky haired teen.

Note then lifted her arms, directing the beam to fly upward before bringing her hands back down to split the blast into six parts that rained down on Gohan. The blast barrage exploded all around Gohan, and Note smirked in triumph but then gasped when she saw her sparring partner still standing, completely unfazed. "After image, never fails!" Gohan's voice came from behind her. Note turned around to face Gohan, who had his right fist in his left palm. **"Jakken, Paper Punch!"** he cried as threw a light punch at the girl; she quickly blocked it before jumping back to gain some distance.

Note then held out her arms and focused her Ki into them. With a mighty yell, she unleashed a strong gold energy blast at the boy. Gohan made no attempt to dodge, but just cupped his hands together and chanted, **"Ka…Me…Ha…Me…Ha!"** before firing the destructive turtle shock wave to counter Note's attack. Gohan's Kamehameha wave pushed Note's blast all the way back to her, and she jumped away a second before she could get hit. The small explosion knocked onto her back. She then sat up and saw Gohan offering his hand to her. "You're pretty good," Gohan complimented.

"Really, 'cause it looked like you mopped the floor with me," Note remarked as she took his hand and was pulled to her feet.

"Nah, I just have more experience in battle than you do," Gohan replied. "But your control over Ki is quite impressive."

"Thanks, you're not so bad yourself," Note returned the compliment.

"Although, you do have one specific weakness," Gohan brought up.

"What weakness?" Note asked.

"You're attacks are mostly counterattacks. You focus on either keeping your enemies at a distance or catching them off guard," Gohan explained. "You should try being more direct and offensive, especially with foes who can get in close."

"I don't suppose you could show me how to be more head on as you say," Note suggested. "Along with a few more tricks you seem to know, like that blast you finished with."

"Only if you agree to show me how you control your energy blasts like you did earlier," Gohan countered. Note nodded and Gohan smiled. "Alright, first thing I'm gonna teach you is how to fly."

* * *

In the City, Princess Yue sat in her private canoe as her Waterbender bended the stream. The boat slowly sailed under a bridge that Sokka happened to be standing on. Upon seeing the princess, Sokka ran after her boat as he called out to her. "Princess Yue! Good morning!" He made it off the bridge and caught up to the boat; he continued to chat with Yue as he walked along side her canoe. "Hey, how about that picnic last night? Boy, your Dad sure knows how to throw a party."

"I'm happy you enjoyed yourself," Yue said.

"Well, it wasn't as much fun after you left," Sokka admitted, causing Yue to blush, which in turn made him blush. "So, I'm still hoping we can see more of each other."

"Do an "activity", you mean?" Yue inquired.

"Yes! At... a place! For... some time!" Sokka replied eagerly.

"I'd love to! I'll meet you on that bridge tonight," Yue told him as she pointed to the next bridge.

"Great! I'll see you – Aah!" Sokka started to say before he fell into the water at the end of the sidewalk.

Yue laughed at the tribesman. "Sorry," she apologized while waving.

"That's okay, it was worth it," Sokka said as he pulled himself onto the sidewalk and laid on his back. "See you tonight."

* * *

At the Fire Nation harbor, Zhao, in his tent, was speaking to a group of men with a small red treasure chest in front of him. "I'm very impressed. You all seem highly qualified for the mission I have in mind," he told the men as he pushed the treasure chest toward them. The man who grabbed the chest turned out to be the Pirate Captain that the Gang had stolen the Waterbending scroll and the Dragon Ball from, with his entire crew standing behind him and his reptilian parrot on his shoulder. The Captain opened the chest to see that it was filled with gold coins; his Pirate salesman grabbed one of the gold pieces and bit into it. "That's some tasty gold!" the red lipped Pirate exclaimed.

The Pirate Captain took back the gold coin and put it in the chest before closing it. "What do you need us to do?"

"I believe you're acquainted with Prince Zuko?" Zhao questioned as he smirked. After debriefing the mission to the Pirates, Zhao left to attend to other matters. His Commander soon came up beside him. "I could've easily handled this mission for you, and for free," Brody stated.

"I don't doubt it," said Zhao. "But it's much better if this looks like a problem that came back to haunt them from their own past mistakes. Besides, it wouldn't help with my plan to recruit General Iroh if one of my officers attacked his son and nephew."

"I guess not," Brody complied. "A shame, I won't even get to say goodbye."

* * *

Back at the North Pole, Katara walked up to the ice building where Yugoda was giving healing lessons. Inside, the old healer was demonstrating with a man sized dummy with multiple traces on its body. She bended the water inside the dummy; the water glowed and spread throughout the body lines before fading. Katara stepped in and raised her hand. "Um, hi. Are you Yugoda?" she asked the elderly teacher.

"Are you here for the healing lesson?" Yugoda asked the teen.

Katara looked around and saw fives girls much younger than her. Despite their welcoming smiles, Katara looked down in disappointment. "I guess I am," Katara replied.

"Welcome. Welcome," Yugoda greeted her new student as she sat down.

* * *

With Aang, the Avatar was practicing a Waterbending move under Pakku's supervision. He moved the water around back and forth, still a bit miffed about not doing this with his friend. Pakku sat down at the side, waving his hand above a steaming bowl of soup. "You're moving the water around, but you're not feeling the push and pull," Pakku told his pupil without looking at him.

"I'm trying!" Aang argued while gritting his teeth.

Master Pakku sipped his soup before making a suggestion to his student. "Maybe that move is too advanced for you. Why don't you try an easier one?" The Avatar slammed the water on the ground and growled.

* * *

With Gohan, the spiky haired Energy bender watched as his new student soared through the skies. Note aced flying like a fish in water. After teaching her how to utilize her Ki and allowing her to levitate and maneuver at will, he was waiting for when she would show him her own tricks. "This is incredible! I feel so free up here!" Note said. "I can't believe I've been restricted to the ground for so long. How could I have not learned this sooner?"

"I know, right? It feels like using our Ki to fly is a natural instinct," said Gohan. "You know, I'm ready to learn one of your moves if you're ready to show me."

"Right, right!" Note agreed as she descended to the ground. "But first, could you show me the last energy blast you used in our fight?"

"Ok. It's like this," Gohan said as he presumed his fighting stance. "Concentrate your energy into a single point." Note nodded as she mimicked her teacher's stance. Both Ki benders cupped their hands together. "Ka…me…ha…me…" they chanted in sync as their Ki started to take shape in between their palms. "Ha!" The two fighters fired two blue beams of power, although Gohan's was bigger than Note's. Their attacks struck the water, creating a tidal wave that beat against the icy ground. "And that's pretty much how it's done. Of course you still have to practice controlling it before you're ready to use it in a real fight," Gohan told her. "Now I believe it's my turn to learn something from you."

"Alright. Bending your energy blasts is very similar to a Waterbenders' style of fighting, as you may have noticed," Note began to explain, to which Gohan nodded. "Just because your energy is released from your body, doesn't mean it's beyond your control." She created a medium sized Ki ball with her left hand and held it up for Gohan to see. The Ki sphere started moving around the female fighter's body as she motioned her left hand. "The Ki you let out is still a part of you, all that's required is for you to focus on feeling the energy and controlling it like it's still inside."

Gohan nodded as he created his own energy ball. He then tossed it into the air, and after a few seconds, his right hand started to glow as he moved it down. The Ki blast started to descend rapidly before stopping right in front of the spiky haired teen. He then slowly moved his hand in different directions as he watched his energy orb respond to his command. Deciding to stop, Gohan closed his hand and the Ki ball dissipated. "Looks like you got the hang of that pretty quick," Noted observed.

"Yeah," Gohan said, half listening.

"What's up?" she asked him.

"Just wondering if I could try this with a different attack…" Gohan answered. He then took the stance he normally would if he was going to unleash a Kamehameha wave. "Ka… me… ha… me…" he chanted as he created an energy star in hands. "Ha!" he yelled and shot the magical turtle shock wave toward the water. He then shifted his hands while still channeling and releasing his energy into the attack. The beam instantly swerved upward in response to Gohan's hands changing position. Gohan changed the beam's course again by moving his hands, which caused the beam to loop and fly downward. It hit the water with a splash, Gohan smiled at his achievement. "That could prove to be a useful skill in battle," he said.

"Nice one!" Note commented. "So, what's next?"

"Now, we'll see how you can apply the new skills you've learned in battle, and how you can adapt your fighting style," Gohan suggested as he took a stance. "Come at me with all you've got. Show me how _direct_ you can be."

"No problem!" Note replied resolutely. She charged at her teacher at full speed with her fist ready.

* * *

Elsewhere, the healing Waterbender had just finished her lesson and the little water tribe girls began to carry the practice mannequin away. Katara then walked over to the elderly woman to show her gratitude. "Thanks for the lesson."

"So, who's the lucky boy?" Yugoda suddenly questioned.

"Huh?" Katara responded in bewilderment.

The healing instructor pointed to Katara's necklace for clarification. "Your betrothal necklace. You're getting married, right?"

Katara smiled and explained the necklace. "No, I don't think I'm ready for that yet. My grandmother gave my mother this necklace, and my mother passed it down to me."

The old woman took a closer look at the necklace and recognized it. "I recognize this carving! I don't know why I didn't realize sooner! You're the spitting image of Kana!"

Katara backed away in shock. "Wait, how do you know my Gran-Gran's name?" she inquired.

"When I was about your age, I was friends with Kana. She was born here, in the Northern Tribe," Yugoda explained.

"She never told me," Katara replied.

"Your grandmother had an arranged marriage with a young Waterbender. He carved that necklace for her," Yugoda elucidated about the necklace's origin, and Katara's face expressed surprise at what she was told.

"If Gran-Gran was engaged, why did she leave?" Katara asked.

"I don't know. That's always been a mystery to me. She left without saying goodbye," Yugoda replied.

* * *

Now nighttime, Zuko's former crew members were outside the ship as they prepared to leave to join Zhao's army. Before they left, one of them yelled, "Good luck!" to Iroh and Trunks. The two then went to Zuko's chamber to give him the crew's regards. The angry prince was lying on his bed with arms folded while skulking at the ceiling. "The crew wanted me to wish you safe travels," Iroh told his nephew.

"Good riddance to those traitors!" Zuko said angrily.

"Hey, don't be like that, they helped us get this far," said Trunks. "If you want to be mad at anyone, be mad at Zhao for doing everything he can get ahead of us."

"It's a lovely night for a walk. Why don't you join me? It would clear your head," Iroh offered. His nephew gave no reply as he continued brooding. "Or, just stay in your room and sit in the dark. Whatever makes you happy." The old Firebender closed Zuko's room door and looked to his adoptive son with worry.

"Don't worry Iroh, I'll keep him company," Trunks assured the General. "Just because he's upset doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy this nice night. Go have fun, we'll be fine."

"Alright," Iroh complied. The Dragon of the West then left the ship while peacefully humming the four seasons song, unaware of the Lizard Parrot that flew past him onto the ship. Later in the night, the Pirate salesman and two other pirates snuck onto the ship. They crossed the main deck to the other side where two more of their comrades were in a boat carrying two barrels. The salesman hooked two ropes to the ship and lowered them to the boat at the bottom. The ropes were hooked to the barrels in the boat and pulled onto the ship; two of the Pirates grabbed the first barrel while the third grabbed his barrel but almost dropped it. "Careful with the blasting jelly!" the Pirate Salesman whispered.

The Salesman tried to quietly turn the latch on the ship's door, but he slipped, creating a loud noise that alerted the Son of Ozai from inside his room. Zuko got out of bed and opened his room door. "Uncle? Uncle, is that you?" Zuko asked no one. "Trunks?" When he got no answer, the fire prince jumped out his room and took a fighting position. He walked down the hall, searching for any intruders. He jumped around the corner and found no one. After the Pirates finished trailing gunpowder, the salesman lit it up and the scoundrels fled. Zuko entered the bridge, where a sword was placed at his throat. "Trunks, it's me!" Zuko cried. "Sorry Zuko, just being cautious," Trunks said as he put his blade away. "You heard it too."

Zuko nodded. "Someone's aboard my ship. An intruder."

"Well, whoever they are, they seemed to be leaving," Trunks reported when he sensed their Ki fleeing. "What did they want?"

"I don't know, but we'd better look around just in case," Zuko suggested.

The trail of gunpowder led all the way back to the barrels of blasting jelly inside the bridge's deck. The two princes continued to look around until Zuko spotted the Pirate Captain's reptile bird on the ship's railing. "Trunks! Over here!" he cried as he stared at the creature's glowing yellow eyes. It squawked before flying away, and Zuko's eyes widened in realization as Trunks came beside him. "What was that?" he questioned. Zuko didn't reply, but turned to him with a look of shock as he said, "I know who was on the ship!" The spark finally reached the barrels, igniting the jelly and exploding throughout the bridge deck. The ship shook violently as the explosion spread before the whole vessel burst into flames, consuming both Trunks and Zuko. The explosion expanded to the point where the entire ship was split in half and on fire.

While on his walk, Iroh heard the explosion and looked back. His face expressed shock and fear as he cried, "Trunks, Zuko!" He raced back to the ship. The vessel continued to burn and debris rained everywhere as Iroh stood at the docks. The retired General stared down in sadness as he repeated the names of his pupils one more time. Iroh suddenly heard gasping and looked up; he saw Trunks stepping out of the fire, his armor completely ruined while carrying an unconscious Zuko. Both boys were covered with burn marks and wounds. Trunks came up to Iroh and placed Zuko on the ground. "I tried to save him," he spoke weakly before he passed out, falling over in the process.

* * *

At the City of the North Pole, since night had fallen, most of the Northerners were going to their homes. The Water Tribe Princess was standing on the bridge she agreed to meet Sokka on, and staring into the night sky. The Southerner came running up the stairs in excitement; he stopped beside her with a smile but she turned away as if she was not happy to see him. "Hi, Princess Yue," Sokka greeted before offering her something. "I made you something. I carved it myself." The tribesman held out his hand to show her what he made, an animal poorly carved out of wood.

"It's a bear," Yue said.

"Actually, it's a fish; see, it has a fin," Sokka admitted as he turned the fish horizontally.

"Oh." The Princess then turned away in depression. "I'm sorry! I made a mistake. I shouldn't have asked you to come here!" she cried before running off. Sokka stared at her, surprised and hurt, before he angrily threw his wooden fish into the water.

* * *

At their house of refuge, the three benders were having a conversation as they waited for their final companion to return. "So Gohan, how's training with Note going?" Aang inquired.

"It's going pretty well," Gohan replied. "She's almost mastered flying and has fully learned how to be more offensive. It won't be long before she's ready to use her skills in battle."

"That's good to hear," Katara said. Just then, her brother entered the home, still angry about his terrible date. "Hey Sokka, how's warrior training going?" she asked him.

Sokka kicked his sleeping bag in frustration and slumped onto it. "That bad?" Aang guessed.

"No, it's Princess Yue," Sokka explained. "I don't get it. One minute, she wants to go out with me, and the next she's telling me to get lost." He then paused to calm down and asked, "So how's waterbending training?"

Now it was Katara's turn to flop in depression. "What's wrong?" Gohan asked her.

"Master Poophead won't teach her because she's a girl," Aang revealed.

Sokka thought for a moment and asked, "Why don't you just teach her, Aang?"

The Southern Waterbender then perked up in excitement. "Why didn't I think of that?" She stood up and spoke to the Airbender. "At night, you can teach whatever moves you learned from Master Pakku. That way, you have someone to practice with and I get to learn waterbending. Everyone's happy!"

"I'm not happy," Sokka grumbled.

"But you're never happy," Katara stated before telling Aang to follow her. The two Waterbenders then left to do their secret Waterbending sessions. Sokka continued to brood, still feeling upset about his night being ruined.

"Look Sokka, don't worry about Princess Yue. She'll come around," Gohan assured his friend.

"You really think so?" he asked.

"Yeah. You're a great guy, I'm sure whatever the reason she had for leaving you by yourself isn't because she doesn't like you," Gohan said. "Don't give up on her just yet."

"Thanks, Gohan." Sokka smiled a little.

* * *

A few minutes later, Katara and Aang were under a bridge beside the stream. Aang raised his arms and pulled out some water as he instructed Katara. "Master Pakku said this move is all about sinking and floating." He then passed the water to his friend, and Katara caught the water. "I got it!" she exclaimed. The water then slipped from her grasp and swam around her rapidly before flying upward.

"That was amazing!" Aang stated, awestruck.

"That wasn't me," Katara said. The two looked up to see Master Pakku standing on the bridge above them. He bended the water into ice points that pierced the top of the bridge. "I... I was just showing Katara a few moves," Aang said nervously.

"You have disrespected me, my teachings, and my entire culture," the insulted master spoke.

"I'm sorry, I –" Aang tried to apologize.

"You are no longer welcome as my student," Pakku declared before leaving the teens with expressions of disbelief.

* * *

The next morning, the four teens had gone to the royal ice palace; the non bender, the Waterbender, the Ki bender, and the Avatar stood before Chief Arnook, Princess Yue, Master Pakku, and some other council members of the North City to discuss about Pakku's choice of not training Aang. "What do you want me to do? Force Master Pakku to take Aang back as his student?" Chief Arnook questioned.

"Yes – please!" Katara pleaded with the Chief.

"I suspect he might change his mind if you swallow your pride and apologize to him," the Chief suggested.

Katara's face clearly showed that she had no intention of doing that, but her expression softened as she remembered why she was doing this. It was her that got Aang to teach her, which led to this problem in the first place. She looked at her friend before making a hard decision. "Fine," Katara agreed sternly.

"I'm waiting, little girl," Pakku said with a smug grin.

That was the last straw. Katara clenched her fist as she glared at the old Master. She jabbed her finger at him while shouting, "No! No way am I apologizing to a sour old man like you!" Her bending responded to her anger, causing the ground to crack and pots of water to shatter.

"Uh, Katara?" Aang tried to get her attention, but was ignored.

"I'll be outside – if you're man enough to fight me!" Katara challenged the Master.

All the council members were aghast from her statement while Master Pakku had a neutral expression. Katara then stormed off, leaving her companions behind. "I'm sure she didn't mean that," Aang assured the council.

"Yeah, I think she did," Sokka responded. Aang glared at him.

* * *

At the Fire Nation harbor, General Iroh and Admiral Zhao were sitting at a small table having a cup of tea while Iroh revealed the news about his son and nephew. The big map of the four nations from earlier was hanging on the wall. Zhao poured the tea into cups as he spoke. "I'm devastated to hear about Prince Zuko and Prince Trunks. Just devastated," Zhao said falsely.

Iroh's face turned into one of pain and sadness as his eyes closed. "The Fire Lord will not be pleased when he learns who was responsible," Iroh said as he reopened his eyes.

"You know who... was behind the attack?" Zhao asked warily while holding a cup to his face.

"Yes... pirates! We had a run in with them awhile back," Iroh explained as he slammed his fist on the table. "They wanted revenge."

Zhao smiled before taking a sip of tea. "So, have you reconsidered my offer?" the Fire Admiral asked the General.

Iroh bowed his head and replied, "Yes, I accept. It will be an honor to serve as your general." He then raised his glass and made a toast. "To the Fire Nation!"

"To victory!" Zhao toasted. With his army now complete, he was ready to lead an invasion against the Northern Water Tribe.

* * *

Back at the North City, Katara was walking down the palace stairs, eager to fight Master Pakku, at the same time ignoring her friends that were trying to talk her out of it. "Katara, you can't be serious about this!" Gohan exclaimed.

"Does it look like I'm kidding?" Katara asked.

"But fighting Master Pakku? He's a Waterbending Master and you're uh…" he said before trying to think of the right word.

"Barely a Waterbender?" Sokka said.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Katara said sarcastically.

"My point is you don't stand much of a chance," Gohan warned her.

"So what?" she asked.

"Are you crazy, Katara? You're not gonna win this fight!" Sokka stated.

Katara removed her coat and tossed it to her brother. "I know! I don't care!" she replied.

"You don't have to do this for me. I can find another teacher," Aang assured her.

"I'm not doing it for you! Someone needs to slap some sense into that guy!" Katara shouted. The four teens were at the bottom of the stairs waiting when Master Pakku appeared and started walking down the stairs calmly. "So, you decided to show up?" Katara egged the old man on, but when he walked past her, she grew angry again. "Aren't you gonna fight?" she asked the Water Master.

"Go back to the healing huts with the other women where you belong," Pakku told her with his back turned. Now furious, Katara pulled out some water from the icy ground and whipped the back of Pakku's head with it, making him stop. "Fine. You want to learn to fight so bad, study closely!" Pakku said as he slowly turned to face her. He pulled out two streams of water from two pools as Katara rushed at him. He nailed her with the water, but she quickly landed on her feet right in front of him. Pakku then bended the water to fly around him and Katara, creating a ring of water that slowly pushed Katara closer to him. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you!" the Master mocked the girl. The water continued to circle them until Katara swung her arms and bended it away, accidentally hitting her brother among the bystanders.

The Southern Waterbender charged at her opponent with a water whip. Pakku created a ramp of ice to block her, but Katara skated up it and back flipped onto an ice banister. The old master motioned his hands, turning the ice ramp into a giant wave and launching it at Katara, so in response, she froze her feet to the banister and deflected Pakku's attack. "You can't knock me down!" she exclaimed, and the crowd cheered at her determination. "Go, Katara!" Aang cheered for his friend. Katara jumped off the banister and charged at Pakku again, so he created a wall of ice to stop her, but she liquefied it and tried to jab at him. Pakku dodged her blows and created a ripple that knocked Katara into a pool.

Pakku smirked until Katara slowly resurfaced and the crowd cheered her on. She bended a circular ice pedestal from the water and started launching ice disks at the Water master. Pakku deflected most of them, but one slipped past his face to show his reflection. He looked back at the teenager, befuddled. Katara, now out of the pool, bended a wavelet at the master, who took complete control of the water strike. Katara resumed her frontal assault but halted when Pakku sent a billow at her, pushing her away. Katara slid backward toward the stairs, and her companions had looks of shock and concern. Katara stayed down at first, but after taking a deep breath, she rose to her feet and attempted to crush Pakku by causing two ice pillars to collapse on him.

The master calmly waved his hands, smashing the ice pillars into powdered snow. "Well, I'm impressed. You are an excellent Waterbender," Pakku complimented the teen.

"But you still won't teach me, will you?" Katara inquired, already knowing the answer.

"No," the master replied. Katara responded by angrily launching an ice wave at her older opponent, but Pakku evaded it by creating an ice pillar to hoist him upward. He then bended the ice into snow and rode it toward the Southern Waterbender. Katara knocked him off with her own water attack, but the old man turned Katara's water into ice and skated across it before smacking the teenage girl. Katara's necklace fell from her neck as she fell on her side and Pakku landed on his feet. Katara rose to her hands and started breathing heavily as she stood up with her hair loose. Pakku decided to end the fight by levitating a gush of water and forming a whirlpool. He then bended the water into multiple ice shards that descended onto Katara. The Gang and the spectators expressed fear that the Southerner might end up getting hurt, only for Katara to struggle against her restraints, as she was completely unharmed and now immobilized. "This fight is over," Pakku declared as he walked past Katara.

"Come back here! I'm not finished yet!" Katara argued.

"Yes, you are," Pakku replied. He then looked down and, catching sight of the water tribe betrothal necklace, picked it up. "This is my necklace!"

"No it's not, it's mine! Give it back!" Katara yelled.

"I made this sixty years ago…" Pakku explained. "For the love of my life. For Kana." Katara's ice prison immediately melted from the old master's sadness.

"My Gran-Gran was supposed to marry you?" Katara asked in surprise.

* * *

At a Fire Nation base, multiple battle ships were lined up at the docks. Inside Zhao's ship, General Iroh was walking down the passageway while two guards were in the same passageway. Iroh approached the two soldiers who approached him as well, and they stop beside each other as Iroh addressed them. "Our plan is working perfectly. Zhao doesn't suspect a thing," Iroh whispered to the guards. They removed their masks to speak, revealing the faces of Zuko and Trunks, the supposedly dead princes. Their faces still held some scars from Zhao's attempt to murder them.

"You didn't have to do this," Zuko insisted.

"No nephew or son of mine is going to stow away on a ship without some backup!" Iroh said.

"Thank you Iroh, we appreciate it," Trunks said.

There was a sudden noise in the corridor that alarmed Iroh. "Someone's coming!" Iroh alerted his boys; they quickly put their masks back on. "Stay hidden until we get to the North Pole and the Avatar will be yours! Good luck!" After giving the final instruction, Iroh and the princes separated to return to their post and avoid suspicion. As the two stowaways walked together, they passed a certain spiky haired Ki bender in a red Gi and a yellow cape who greeted them with a simple "Hey." Trunks stopped and turned to face the teen who continued on his way, unaware that someone was staring at him.

Zuko noticed this and asked, "What's the matter?"

Trunks decided to let it go and replied, "It's nothing, we just need to be more careful." The two continued walking while Trunks thought, _"Why is Beat here? Why did Zhao recruit him?"_

* * *

Back at the North City battlefield, Master Pakku continued to stare at Katara's necklace in depression while the Gang, Note, Princess Yue, and Chief Arnook stood behind him, though Katara was a little closer to him than the others. "I carved this necklace for your grandmother when we got engaged. I thought we would have a long, happy life together," the heartbroken Waterbender explained. "I loved her."

"But she didn't love you, did she? It was an arranged marriage," Katara repeated the info she got from Yugoda. Princess Yue grew sad from Katara's statement. The Southerner then approached Pakku as she realized why her grandmother ran away from her birth tribe. "Gran-Gran wouldn't let your tribe's stupid customs run her life. That's why she left. It must have taken a lot of courage." Now upset, the princess ran off crying and her friend followed her.

Aang looked at Sokka and said, "Go get her." The tribesman then raced after the dismayed princess.

* * *

Later that day, the sky turned dark as a quarter moon sat in the sky. Princess Yue was crying at the bridge where she left the Southern tribesman with Note standing beside her, trying to comfort her. "You know, that's actually not a bad idea, to leave home if you want to live your own life," Note spoke. "And if you ever decided to, I wouldn't stop you, but I might ask to go with you."

"I could never do that," Yue stated. "I'm not just some regular girl like Katara's grandmother; I'm the princess of this tribe. I hold its future, and everyone would be devastated if I just left. Besides, I could never do that to my father, my people, or you."

"What's the point of being the princess if everyone but you gets to be happy?" Note questioned.

"It's my duty to make sure everyone but me finds happiness," Yue replied.

"Well, I'm not happy if you aren't," Note grumbled while folding her arms.

"Please Note, just try to be happy for me," Yue pleaded. "You're my friend; I'll never forgive myself if my unhappiness was the source of your own. You've got so much of a better life than I do."

"One of the reasons my life is any better is because of you," said Note as she sighed. She then noticed Sokka coming up the bridge and could tell that Yue noticed him too since she was trying to avoid looking at him. "I'd better go, you'll want to be alone for this," Note said before she walked away from the bridge. A tear slid down Yue's face as Sokka got closer to her. "What do you want from me?" she asked the tribesman.

"Nothing," Sokka answered. "I just want you to know, I think you're beautiful... and, I never thought a girl like you would even notice a guy like me."

"You don't understand," Yue said to him, but he was determined to speak his mind.

"No, no, see, that's the thing. I think I do understand now. You're a princess and I... I'm just a southern peasant," he went on.

"No, Sokka..." she tried to say but was interrupted.

"It's okay. You don't have to say anything. I'll see ya around, okay?" After he was done talking, he turned to leave, but the Princess quickly grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss. Sokka's surprise quickly faded as he returned the kiss, but after a second he broke it to get some answers. "Okay, now I'm really confused! Happy – but confused!" he stated as he held Yue's hands.

"I do like you! A lot. But, we can't be together – and not for the reason you think," she explained. She then pulled down her collar to show a water tribe necklace similar to Katara's, sharing the same purpose hers did. "It's because... I'm engaged. I'm sorry!" She then ran off, once again leaving Sokka in a state of shock and depression.

* * *

The next morning, many of Pakku's students were gathered around the icy battlefield where Katara fought Pakku. It was still pretty damaged from the fight. Pakku stood close by, supervising one of his latest pupils, the Avatar, who was bending a ball of water. Aang then tossed the water sphere and smiled at Pakku. "Not bad! Not bad! Keep practicing and maybe you'll get it by the time you're my age!" Pakku laughed which made Aang frown. The monk then smiled when he saw his friend running toward them.

"Hey Katara!" Aang greeted her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Pakku asked sternly before he smiled jokingly. "It's past sunrise. You're late."

All the students of Pakku then mimicked their master's stance, Katara included. "Good to see ya here," Aang told her.

"You too," she replied back.

* * *

Out at sea, Admiral Zhao stood at the bridge of his ship with Commander Brute and General Iroh right behind him. The Fire Admiral stared off into space as he announced, "My fleet is ready. Set a course for the Northern Water Tribe." His ship then let out a short blaze, and soon numerous battleships let out their own sparks as their engines were fired up and the Fire Nation armada headed toward the City of the North Pole.

 **A/N: Sob! Weep! Sniff! I'm sorry, it's just that the first time I watched this episode I got so emotional from all the sob stories and the drama. No, not really. Anyway, we've finally gotten closer to the end of season one of Five Elements. And once that's over with, I can move on to the origins of Gohan and Trunks before this story began. Thanks to all my readers and hope you stay tuned. Also I know I just recently posted the last chapter so this might seem like I'm going to fast but actually my internet wasn't working so I used the time to start the next chapter while I was waiting to post the last chapter. There will be more surprises in the future chapters and trust me when I say you're gonna love reading the North Pole Siege as much as I'll love writing it. Until next time, TTFN AntiHero out!**

 **Recommendations:**

 **This War of Mine by Sivam-Surprise**

 **New Face of Justice by Comorep677**

 **Misplaced by Maximillian Havisham**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Guess what time it is? It's time for another exciting chapter of…Five Elements! We've all waited a long time for me to get to this chapter, and now we're finally here! Thank you all for your support, opinions, and reviews. I'm glad my story managed to catch your attention and that you found it enjoyable. Now without wasting any more time, I'll give you what you really want: Water, Earth, Fire, Air, and Ki… Five Elements the North Pole Siege part one!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own Dragon Ball Z or Avatar the Last Airbender**

 **Chapter18 – The Siege of the North Pole part 1**

It was a new day for all the citizens living in the North Pole, especially for a Southern Water Tribe girl. After days of training under Master Pakku, Katara, the last Waterbender of the South Pole, was finally a master Waterbender herself. She stood in the sparring circle, about to face off against another one of Pakku's students. The boy, Sangok, twitched nervously while Katara's face showed confidence. Sangok pulled out some water, turned into an ice ball, and threw it at the girl, but the female Waterbender easily caught the attack and turned it back into water before adding more water to it and using it to hoist the boy into the air before imprisoning him in ice. The boy squirmed as Katara lowered her arms and smirked. Master Pakku came up to the boy, having witnessed his pitiful defeat.

"Nice try, Pupil Sangok. A couple more years and you might be ready to fight a sea sponge," Pakku said to the boy. He waved his hand, turning the ice back into the water and freeing the boy. "Would anyone care for a rematch with Katara?" the Master asked his students. They all sat on the ground in a line, each boy showing different signs of defeat from sparring with their female classmate. "Katara, you have advanced more quickly than any student I have ever trained," Pakku praised his female pupil, his words make her smile. "You have proven that with fierce determination, passion, and hard work you can accomplish anything. Raw talent alone is not enough." Both Waterbenders looked at Aang, who was playing with Momo by levitating him on an air sphere. "Pupil Aang!"

"Yes, Master Pakku?" Aang replied as Momo fell on his head.

"Care to step into the sparring circle? I figure since you've found time to play with house pets you must have already mastered waterbending," Pakku suggested.

Aang got to his feet and said, "I wouldn't say 'mastered,' but check this out!" The monk bent the snow onto his body, becoming a human snowman. The Lemur Bat then tackled the Avatar while the Waterbenders stared in disappointment. Just then, Gohan landed in the sparring arena. "Good morning, Master Pakku. Hey Katara, hey Aang," Gohan greeted the Waterbenders.

"Hey Gohan," Aang and Katara greeted back.

"Congratulations Katara. It must feel great to finally be a Waterbending master," Gohan stated. "You deserve it."

Thanks, Gohan," Katara replied.

"Is there something you want, boy?" Pakku asked.

"Actually, I have a suggestion to make," Gohan answered. "If Katara's looking for a sparring partner, I'd be honored to help her test her skills."

"Oh? And why's that?" asked the old master.

"Now that Katara's proven herself to be a true Waterbender and she's capable of besting other Waterbenders, I think it's time to see how she'll fare against a different kind of bender," Gohan explained. "I've never actually taken on a Waterbender before and I think now is the perfect time to fight one, plus it'll give her some experience in fighting an opponent that doesn't use waterbending." He then turned to the Southern Waterbender. "What do you say, Katara? Ready to take on a bender that doesn't use water?"

Katara thought about this for a moment. She knew Gohan had more experience in fighting than she did, and she knew he enjoyed fighting new opponents he believed were strong. It was clear to her that she might have difficultly trying to beat him, but he made a good point; the whole reason she wanted to learn Waterbending was to fight in this war, and sparring with Gohan could help her learn how to adapt her fighting style when battling another bender. She nodded and replied, "Alright Gohan, I accept your challenge. If that's okay with Master Pakku." Pakku nodded in response.

"Great! Now before we begin, I actually want to make another suggestion," Gohan said.

"What is it?" Katara asked.

"A two-on-two battle! You and Aang will fight against me and another Ki bender. I believe this will help my brother master Waterbending and you both will gain more experience," Gohan stated.

"I'm in!" Katara replied. "What about you, Aang?"

"Let's do it!" Aang said before he asked. "Uh, Gohan, who's your partner gonna be for this fight?"

"Her!" Gohan answered as he pointed upward. Everyone looked up to see the female Ki bender flying around and laughing. "Hey, Note!" he called.

Note immediately stopped zooming through the air and descended to the ground."You called?" she asked.

"I was hoping both of us could have a sparring match against Aang and Katara," Gohan replied. "I thought that this could help you gain some experience and see how far you've come in your training."

"Sure, I'm up for a good fight," Note said.

"Is it alright with you, Master Pakku?" Gohan asked.

"Very well, I am interested in seeing how my pupils will fare against a couple of Energybenders," Pakku said. The four benders nodded, and a few seconds later, Aang and Katara were standing together, facing Gohan and Note with serious expressions. The Waterbenders took their stances as they each pulled out some water while the Ki benders got into their fighting positions. The four opponents stared at each other as they waited for their referee to give them the go. "Begin!" Pakku announced. Aang and Katara started off by launching a giant wave of water at their opponents. Gohan and Note just smirked, and both fired an energy blast that dissolved the tide.

"You'll have to do better than that, guys!" Gohan told them.

"Oh, we will, count on it!" Katara stated.

The Waterbenders waved their arms around, causing ice spikes to stick out of the ground. The Ki benders dodged by jumping all around before flying into the air. "Nice try, but you just made it harder for you to catch us!" Note mock her opponents. "That's what you think!" Aang said. The monk bent an ice stool to hoist him into the air, and then he brought up some snow from the ground and poured it onto the Ki benders. "Are you trying to give us colds?" Note questioned.

"Nope, just distracting you," Aang replied.

Gohan and Note suddenly noticed their legs were bound by water, courtesy of Katara. The water swarmed up their bodies, stopping just at their necks before freezing to ice. Aang landed beside Katara, and both smiled triumphantly. "That was hardly a challenge," Katara commented. "We're just getting warmed up!" Gohan shouted in excitement as he and his comrade started to channel energy throughout their bodies. The ice cracked before it shattered, freeing the two Ki benders who descended to the ground. They smirked as they charged at their opponents, Gohan at Katara and Note at Aang. Katara pulled out a water whip to defend herself against the martial artist. She swung her weapon at the boy, but he quickly dodged her strikes as he got closer. Pretty soon, Katara was forced to defend herself with what little self-defense she knew. She managed to dodge a few of his blows and block one, but he caused her to stumble by kicking one of her legs before getting her with a kiai.

The Southerner was blown a few feet away from the Son of Goku."You're at a disadvantage when your opponent can get up close!" Gohan exclaimed as he ran toward her again.

"Then I'll just have to keep my distance!" Katara responded as she raised her hand. Gohan suddenly stopped running when he felt that his feet were cold; he looked at his feet to see that they were iced to ground, restricting his movements. Katara then launched a giant wave at the spiky haired teen. With no way to dodge, Gohan crossed his arms to defend himself. The water collided with the boy and knocked him away, where he landed on his back. Gohan stood up and fired three energy blasts at the Waterbender. Katara created an ice wall as a shield; the three blasts hit the ice barrier, turning it into cold smoke. Katara then countered by sending numerous water bullets at her opponent, but Gohan used his agility to evade the liquid projectiles and get closer to Katara. He started throwing multiple blows at the water tribe girl, only getting her twice as she managed to avoid his other strikes before trapping Gohan's arm in an ice wall. Katara proceeded to bind the rest of his limbs with ice bindings.

Katara smirked as she pulled a stream of water from the river, preparing to strike Gohan with it. The Energy bender smirked back as the water attack was thrown at him; he broke out of his ice restraints and bent himself backward, just barely managing to dodge the attack. Gohan then resumed his assault. Katara bent many ice walls to block his path, but the boy easily smashed through her defenses. Acting quick, Katara smacked Gohan in the face with her water whip, temporarily blinding him by getting water in his eyes. Gohan flinched; while trying to regain his eyesight, he instinctively fired a ki blast at the girl. Katara blocked it with water barrier and shot another water attack at him. Gohan's vision finally recovered, and he jumped to avoid the attack.

Gohan countered by firing another blast at Katara, which she blocked with another ice shield, but was blown backward by the explosion. Gohan prepared to fire another blast when he felt the ground getting thin. He looked down to see Katara was melting the ice he was standing on; he then fell through a large pool of water. Katara then froze the water around her opponent before bringing it back up. Gohan was completely frozen in ice; the ice then started to crack as a bright light shined through it. The ice eventually shattered as the light exploded, when it faded, Gohan could be seen with his arms stretched out. The Son of Goku then shivered as he attempted to heat himself up. "Man, that's cold!" he complained.

With Aang, the monk was dodging multiple energy attacks from the female Ki bender. "Come on, already!" Note cried in annoyance. "Stop running and fight back!" "Fine! You asked for it!" Aang replied as Note jumped at him with ki spheres in her palms. Aang then raised his arms into the air, creating a massive wave that knocked Note away. The girl landed on all fours and smirked. "Now that's more like it," she said before charging at the Avatar. Aang quickly tried to slow her down by encasing her fists and feet in ice, but that didn't stop her as she continued on and started to attack Aang with ice enhanced punches and kicks.

Note eventually managed to plow Aang with a double ice kick. She smiled before smashing the ice on her hands and feet as her opponent stood back up. The Ki bender was about to attack again, but she stopped when she saw that her legs were grabbed by two water tentacles. She looked up and saw Aang bending the water arms; he then threw the girl into a pile of snow. Note quickly stood up as Aang created a tall ice pillar to stand on. Note flew at the monk with ki blasts in her hands, but before she could reach him, Aang made an enormous wave that collided with her and tossed her over his head and onto the ground. Note landed on her back before quickly firing an energy blast at the ice pillar, shattering it and making Aang fall to the ground. Note tried to attack Aang head on, but he quickly countered by hitting her face with water and then freezing it. Note shook her head frantically until she punched the ice, shattering it and freeing her head.

"So that's how you wanna play it?" Note asked. She then placed her hands on the icy floor while channeling Ki into her palms. She fired a blast into the ground that swerved and came up from under the Avatar, who quickly jumped away to avoid it. The blast flew upward and split into six blasts that descended on the target. Note started bending the energy beams at Aang. The monk dodged five blasts and used a wave of water to swat the last one back at the girl. Note jumped to avoid it but was slapped out of the sky by a giant wave from Aang. The Avatar then started unleashing numerous water geysers, forcing Note to back away as he advanced. The female warrior unknowingly continued to back away toward her mentor, who at the same time was being pushed back to her as he dodged water whip slashes from Katara. The Ki benders backed into each other as they now saw that they were cornered.

The two Waterbenders then motioned their arms around in sync, creating a large water sphere that consumed their opponents. Gohan and Note held their breaths and struggled to escape their watery prison. "Sorry guys, but this is just until you run out of air and pass out so that we can be declared the winners," Katara said. The Energy benders smirked as they each closed their hands together. They opened their hands to reveal energy blasts in between their palms, which they fired at each other, causing them to collide and detonate immediately. The water prison exploded, blasting the Ki benders backward and blowing the Waterbenders back a bit. Aang and Katara quickly countered by firing multiple ice spikes at their sparring opponents. Gohan and Note fired energy blasts to destroy the ice projectiles, but the Waterbenders didn't cease their rapid fire. After some ice shards managed to scratch Gohan's shoulder, chest, and leg along with Note's arm, cheek, and hair, the Ki bending duo fired a kiai that blew the ice spikes back.

The Waterbenders deflected all the ice shards and countered by throwing multiple streams of water at their opponents. Gohan reacted by putting up a gold energy barrier that shielded him and Note from the attacks. Note jumped over the barrier and charged toward Aang and Katara; they quickly bent ice spikes to intercept her path, but she simply smashed through them with her combat skills. Note then jumped at them to hit them with energy blasts, but the two moved aside, and Katara froze Note's feet to the floor. Gohan ran toward them but was halted when Aang froze his entire body from the neck down. Katara then hit Note with a wavelet and sent her flying into Gohan. The two Ki benders skidded across the icy ground while the two Waterbenders prepared a finishing move; they unleashed a giant tsunami at their foes.

Gohan and Note stood up as the tidal wave came toward them; they nodded and entered the same fighting stance as they chanted, **"Ka…me…ha…me…"** A blue star of Ki started to form in between their hands. **"Ha!"** they cried as they fired the Friend Kamehameha at the wave, splitting it in half as the beam headed toward the Waterbenders. Aang and Katara quickly bent a big wall of ice to protect themselves, but when the beam made contact with the ice wall, it exploded, knocking Aang and Katara backward. Note rushed at Katara and Gohan at Aang. Note pounced at the Southerner with Ki blasts in her palms; she threw her hands forward and descended on Katara. The Water Tribe girl pulled out some water and placed it on her arms.

She then turned the water into an ice blade and pointed it at the descending Note; she stopped her assault with her hands an inch away from Katara's face, and Katara's ice blades were an inch away from Note stomach. Gohan charged at Aang with a Ki enhanced right fist, which he threw at the Avatar. Aang quickly caught his strike with an ice wall and threw his own ice fist at his brother, but Gohan grabbed it with his superior reflexes. The four benders stared at each other as they were in a stalemate.

"That's enough, this fight is over," Pakku announced.

Note canceled her Ki blasts as Katara dissolved her ice blades. The four benders stood face to face and bowed to each other. "That was an excellent match," Gohan said. "Both of you have come far in your waterbending training."

"Thanks, Gohan," Katara replied. "That fight was fun. It was the best challenge I've had since I became Pakku's student."

"You guys are powerful," Aang complimented them. "Note seems to have improved a lot in her fighting skills."

"Well, I had a great teacher," Note stated happily.

"Thanks, now I think it's time we took a break to recover," Gohan said as he wiped his forehead.

"I can heal the two of you if you want," Katara suggested.

"Sure," Note agreed as Gohan nodded. The two Ki benders sat down in front of Katara; the Southern Waterbender pulled out some water and placed it around her hand. It started to glow, and she placed it on Note's cheek, slowly closing the cut. Pakku watched as his female pupil treated the Ki benders' wounds. _"A Waterbender that can fight and heal,"_ he thought. _"She'll be very helpful in this war."_

Elsewhere in the North City, Princess Yue and Sokka were taking a walk together. Yue was walking on the ice bridge while the tribesman was walking across the bridge railing and talking about his life in the South Pole. "So they don't have Palaces in the Southern Tribe?" Yue inquired.

"Are you kidding? I grew up in a block of ice. It's not exactly a cultural hub," Sokka answered her.

The Princess laughed at the tribesman while putting her hand on his arm, which made him smile. Yue then removed her hand and said, "Sokka, this is wrong."

"What's wrong? We're taking a walk!" Sokka argued.

"I'm engaged. It just... feels..." Yue said hesitantly.

Sokka suddenly smiled as he got an idea. "I know what you need! You need to meet my good friend Appa!" Sokka exclaimed as he got off the railing.

"Who?" Yue asked.

A few minutes later, Sokka and Yue showed up at the Northern stable for animals. Appa was busy eating when he noticed Sokka and Yue coming toward him. "Appa and I go way back. Don't we, boy?" Sokka spoke to the bison as he spread his arms. The beast then pinned the tribesman down with his paw and started licking his face, much to Sokka disgust. "Ahh! Easy! Down boy! Ahh! No! Up!" Sokka cried as he tried to calm Appa down. "Looks like you haven't been giving Appa enough attention," Yue laughed while Sokka struggled to free himself from the beast. Soon the two teens were sitting on top of Appa's saddle, ready for takeoff. "So how does this work?" Yue asked Sokka.

"You hangin' on tight?" he questioned.

"Mmm hmm," she responded.

"Yip…" Sokka paused before smoothly repeating "…yip."

Appa immediately shot up into the sky. "Oh...my...goodness! " Yue cried as the two soared through the heavens. The Sky bison flew over the city and just outside the main gate. "Wow! I can't believe you do this every day!" the Princess exclaimed as she looked down.

"Yeah, we pretty much live up here," Sokka said as he stretched.

"Is it always this cold in the sky?" Yue inquired before she moved closer to Sokka.

"Not when you're with someone," he replied. The couple was now focused on each other rather than the sky.

"It's beautiful up here," Yue said while blushing.

"Yeah," Sokka agreed. The two teens moved closer as they prepared to kiss but quickly stopped themselves awkwardly. "Whoo! Yeah! Good times! Good times!" he stated. Snowflakes started to fall all around them, except along with the snow rained ash. "Hey, look!" Sokka said as he pointed outward. The ash increased as they flew through the sky. "What's happening?" Yue questioned. "Oh no," was all Sokka could say as he recognized this terrible omen.

Back in the City, the black snow started to fall all over the Northern city, catching everyone's attention. The citizens look up to see the sky rain down ash. During this time, the Avatar was playing in the snow with Momo beside him. The Lemur stuck its tongue out to taste the black snow; he started coughing immediately, causing Aang to stop playing and look up to the black snow along with Katara, who gasped as she also recognized this strange phenomenon. Gohan and Note were resting by Icarus when they saw the ash raining all over the North City. Note held out her hand and caught some of the ash. "Since when are snowflakes black?" she inquired.

"That's not snow, it's ash," Gohan replied.

"What?!" Note cried in shock.

Rather than answering, Gohan flew into the air and Note flew after him. The two Ki benders flew above the city and looked toward the ocean. They were able to see something coming toward the town as they sensed numerous Ki heading their way. "It's a good thing I taught you some new skills," Gohan said seriously. "Because it looks like you'll have to use them soon."

The ash continued to fall through the city, mixing with the icy fortress and turning the waters black. The Tribesman and the Princess hurried back to the city; when they landed, Sokka picked up a chunk of snow and ash. "Soot," he spoke.

"What?" Yue questioned.

"I've seen it before. Right before my village was attacked," Sokka elucidated. "It's soot mixed with snow."

"But why?" Yue asked.

"It's the Fire Nation. They've closed in on the North Pole. And from the looks of the stuff... I'd say there's a lot of them." Sokka said with a serious expression. The two looked out to the horizon and gazed upon the black cloud that hung over them in the sky.

At sea, Admiral Zhao and his fleet sailed through the waters as they closed in on the Northern Water Tribe. On his ship, the Fire Admiral and General Iroh stood on the bridge looking ahead. "This will truly be one for the history books, General Iroh," Zhao stated with pride. "Just think, centuries from now, people will study the great Admiral Zhao who destroyed the last of the Water Tribe civilization. You're lucky you're here to see it."

"Be careful what you wish for, Admiral. History is not always kind to its subjects," Iroh warned his superior.

"I suppose you speak from experience? But rest assured, this will be nothing like your legendary failure at Ba Sing Se," Zhao tells the Fire General.

"I hope not, for your sake," Iroh said.

"Tell the Captains to prepare for the first strike, and tell Brody and Beat to prepare for their mission," Zhao ordered his General. Iroh left the Admiral to relay his orders to his fleet members. After doing so, Iroh walked through the hallway and met up with Zuko and Trunks. They waited for a fellow guard to pass the hall before they started talking. "We'll be landing soon," Iroh whispered before he asked the boys, "Do you have a plan?"

Zuko pulled down his mask and answered, "We're working on it, Uncle."

"What about Beat? Do you know why he's here yet?" Trunks questioned after pulling down his mask.

"No, Zhao only states that they have a special assignment," Iroh explained. "I'm pretty sure it doesn't involve the Avatar though."

"Let's hope it doesn't," Trunks responded. He and Zuko then put their masks back on and separated from Iroh.

At the City, Water Tribesmen were rushing to prepare for battle. On top of the palace, two Tribesmen were banging a gong, one after another. Many Citizens were hurrying inside the palace, including Sokka and Yue. The Southerner pulled the Princess up the stairs until she stopped running, making him stop as well. "What's wrong? We have to go!" Sokka urged the Princess.

"No, Sokka, wait. I can't see you anymore. Not at all," Yue said, releasing his hand.

Surprised to hear this, Sokka turned to her. "What? We're just friends," he assured.

"I wish we could just be friends, but I like you too much, and it's too confusing to be around you. I'm marrying someone else," she responded before turning away from her "friend."

"You don't love him, do you? You don't even seem to like him," Sokka observed as he realized the problem.

"But I do love my people," she answered.

"You're not marrying them!" Sokka argued.

She turned back to him. "You don't understand. I have duties to my father, to my tribe. I have to do this, goodbye!" Yue ran off, once again leaving Sokka in a state of depression.

Inside the palace, Chief Arnook stood before many Citizens and Water Tribe warriors as he prepared to make his speech on the situation. Princess Yue and Master Pakku sat right behind the Chief. The Gang and Note sat to the side of everyone. "The day we have feared for so long has arrived," the Chief announced to his people. "The Fire Nation is on our doorstep. It is with great sadness I call my family here before me, knowing well that some of these faces are about to vanish from our tribe. But they will never vanish from our hearts. Now, as we approach the battle for our existence, I call upon the great spirits!" Arnook raised his arms as he made his plea. "Spirit of the Ocean! Spirit of the Moon! Be with us!" Once he finished, he made one last announcement. "I'm going to need volunteers for a dangerous mission."

"Count me in!" Sokka said immediately as he stood up.

"Sokka," Katara said, concerned.

"Many of you will not return. Come forward to receive my mark if you accept the task," the Chief warned the warriors who stood up to volunteer. One by one, the volunteers stepped up to the Chief. Princess Yue and Master Pakku stood beside Chief Arnook as he placed his mark, which was three wavy lines of red paint, on the forehead of a tribesman. Sokka came next, and the Princess glanced at him as he received the mark. He started to leave but stopped and made eye contact with Yue; they gazed at each other before Sokka turned and walked away, while Yue turned away and cried in silence. Moments later, Aang was crouching on the top of the steps while staring out to the horizon. He was soon joined by the Chief, Katara, Gohan, and Note. "The stillness before battle is unbearable. Such a quiet dread," the Chief spoke.

"I wasn't there when the Fire Nation attacked my people. I'm gonna make a difference this time," Aang assured.

"You mean, _we're_ gonna make a difference this time," Gohan corrected the monk as he put his hand on Aang's shoulder. "'Cause I'm not letting you do this alone."

"Thanks, bro," Aang said gratefully.

"Alright Note, ready to put your skills to the test?" Gohan asked his pupil.

"Yeah! Those fire nation chumps won't know what hit 'em!" Note stated eagerly.

"Actually, Note, I have a special task for you…" the Chief said.

After the preparation for war, numerous Water Tribe warriors were standing in a straight line on the wall of the North City. The Gang and their flying beasts were standing beside them with looks of fierce determination. It was nice, quiet, sunny day; a shame this same day was the start of an all-out war. In the distance, two ships were spotted. One of them fired the first strike, surprising everyone. Acting quickly, Gohan fired an energy blast that collided with the fireball and destroyed it. Everyone sighed in relief until a second fireball flew through the smoke of the first one and hit the city wall right in the insignia. The impact caused a shockwave that blew the warriors on the wall backward. The North City symbol now had a big hole in it that was releasing smoke.

Another fireball was launched at the City; it sailed over the wall and crashed in the city's river. The Fire Navy ship continued to attack by launching another fireball that crashed into the right side of the city wall, shattering some of it. "Yip yip!" Aang commanded his bison. Appa flew off toward the first Fire nation ship. Many warriors were assisting those who ended up buried in snow from the debris. Sokka trekked around as he searched for his other two companions. "Katara! Gohan!" he called out to them. Katara then revealed herself by waterbending a pile of snow from on top of her. Sokka helped his sister up. "Where's Gohan?" she asked. Her question was answered when another pile of snow exploded and a yelling Ki bender burst out from it. Gohan stepped out of the snow and hugged him arms to his body. "Brr, that's freezing cold," he remarked as his friends came up to him. "Are you guys ok? Where's Aang?"

"We're fine," Katara answered. "And Aang flew off to take out the Fire nation ships."

"Then I guess I'd better go join him; can't let him have all the fun!" Gohan said before he ran to the crumbled wall. He jumped off it and cried, "Icarus!" Pretty soon, his trusty dragon flew under and caught him, and the two flew toward the ships that were hurling fireballs at the city. Another fireball was launched but Gohan destroyed it with an energy blast. Icarus flew toward another fireball and Gohan cut it to pieces. He then jumped at another fireball and kicked it, sending it off course and away from the city. "Ow!" Gohan cried as he rubbed his leg; he quickly recovered and descended toward one of the two ships.

With the Avatar, Aang and Appa flew toward the Fire Navy ship as it hurled another fireball at the North City. Flying directly in its path, Aang swung his staff like a bat, swatting the fireball away from the direction of the city and into an ice cliff. "I'll take it from here, boy!' Aang called out to his animal companion. The Bison tilted, allowing Aang to jump off and dive toward the Fire Navy ship. The Airbender opened his glider and dodged fire attacks as he descended onto the ship. The monk unleashed an air current that blew the fire soldiers away.

He then ran over to the nearest catapult, where some fire soldiers wielding hammers advanced on him. Aang was forced to move up the catapult arm. One of the soldiers swung his hammer and Aang evaded him by back flipping to the top of the catapult. The boy looked at his left and right to see soldiers with hammers coming at him from both sides. The one on his right swung down on Aang, making him back up. The one on his left swung at him but missed as well. Both hammer strikes left dents in the catapult. Aang jumped up to dodge their double hammer strike and slammed the catapult with air, causing it to break into pieces. He then moved onto the next catapult. The Airbender picked up a hammer and placed it in some chains. He then knocked a fire soldier away and activated the trebuchet, making it crumble as it shot a fireball right through the deck and into the ship.

Aang went to the next set of catapults while being chased by armed soldiers, where he tied the chains together and quickly started the catapult. The front catapult pulled the back one to itself, reducing both of the trebuchets to scrap metal. The Avatar grinned at his progress and hurried to finish the last catapult. He picked up a hammer and prepared to smash the machine with it when he noticed someone behind him. He quickly dodged a chained hammer thrown at him by a large beaded Fire Nation warrior. The warrior continued to toss his chained weapons at the Airbender until he eventually managed to tie him to the catapult, but then he was suddenly grabbed by a sky bison and tossed off the ship.

"Appa!" Aang exclaimed. He then freed himself and gave the bison a big hug. "Thanks for the rescue, buddy!"

The ship then started to vibrate as an ice shard shot through the main deck. The ship was soon surrounded by Waterbenders in canoes that restrained the fire soldiers in ice, destroyed the last catapult, and hoisted the ship out of the sea with ice. Aang and Appa left the ship.

Gohan landed on the Fire Navy ship with a serious expression as he gripped the hilt of his blade. The crew on the main deck that was operating the catapults readied themselves and slowly approached the Ki bender. "I'll only say this once, stop attacking and turn your ship around, or else!" Gohan warned them. One of the fire soldiers charged at Gohan while wielding a hammer. The teen dodged his swing and kicked him away. The other soldiers then charged at Gohan. "Don't say I didn't warn you!" Gohan shouted. He pulled out his sword and swung it horizontally, creating a strong wind blast that knocked the men backward. One of them got up quickly and charged at the fighter again. He swung his own sword at the boy, but Gohan easily deflected his assault and hit him in the gut with a weak ki blast. Two other soldiers came at Gohan with spears; the boy simply cut their weapons in half and kicked them both aside. Gohan then fired a ki blast at one of the catapults, destroying it.

A soldier with a hammer ran toward Gohan and swung; the teen blocked and noticed another soldier with a hammer coming behind him. He suddenly disappeared as the second swung his hammer, hitting his comrade since his original target was gone. Gohan reappeared and hit the soldier in head with the hilt of his sword. He then ran to another catapult and used his sword to cut it to pieces. While Gohan's back was turned, one of the crew members aimed the catapult at him and launched a fireball at him. Gohan sensed it coming and ducked under the attack, which caused it to crash into another catapult, wrecking it completely. Gohan smirked as he ran to dismantle the last two catapults. Before he could reach them, his body was suddenly tied up by a chain from behind. He turned to see a couple of soldiers swing chains before they tossed them at the Ki bender, restraining him from his neck to his ankles. Gohan smirked as he said, "You think this'll stop me?! Not a chance!" He then closed his eyes as he focused most his Ki into his feet. He opened his eyes and cried, " **Masenko, ha!** " as he unleashed an energy blast through his feet. The blast launched him toward a catapult, hitting it head first and damaging it.

The soldiers stared at the boy with wide eyes and open mouths as he stood up. Gohan then channeled his Ki throughout his body, weakening the chains until he managed to break them. He then rubbed his head and muttered, "Thank goodness for thick skulls," before firing a Ki blast to finish off the fourth catapult and firing another from his mouth to demolish the fifth one. With his work done, Gohan thought, _"Now to get rid of this ship before they get to the city,"_ as he ascended to the sky. He held out his sword and poured his energy into it; the saber started to glow and grew an outline of Ki. Gohan then threw it with the blade facing downward before diving into the water. The sword drilled through the vessel, creating a hole as it came out from the bottom of the ship. Gohan swam under the ship in time to grab his blade before it sank too deep. He then flew out of the water as the vessel started to sink.

His dragon appeared beside him and Gohan climbed onto his back. The Ki bender was soon joined by his brother flying beside him on Appa, and a battalion of Waterbenders in canoes. The boys smiled at each other before they looked forward to see numerous Fire Navy Ships as far as the eye can see. They stared off into the horizon in horror as they realized what they were up against. "You've got to be kidding me," Aang said.

Meanwhile, while everyone was focused on the first strike, two Ki benders had managed to sneak past the city walls to infiltrate the North City, and they were Commander Brute and Beat. The two Ki benders were on a top secret mission, specifically meant for them. "Care to remind me what we're doing in enemy territory again?" Beat questioned his Commander.

"Our mission is to storm the royal palace and kidnap the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe," Brody explained. "Admiral Zhao wishes to use her as leverage in this war; this will prove to our advantage when we launch a ground attack tomorrow."

"Then tell me why I had to come with you. I'm pretty sure you could've handled this alone," Beat said.

"Of course I could, and that's what I told the Admiral, but he insisted that I bring you along since you know your way around this icy palace," Brody replied. "I take it he meant that you've been here before?"

Beat turned away with an expression of pain on his face which made Brody raise an eyebrow. "It was a while ago," was all Beat said before the two continued their mission. The two Energy benders sped through the city too fast for any of the citizens to notice. They entered the royal palace and made their way to the top. Although they attempted to use stealth, the palace was almost completely empty; there weren't any Waterbenders or Water Tribe warriors to intercept them. "I expected this place to be swarming with guards," Brody remarked.

"It was, until the first strike. Now most of the City's defenders are on the front lines trying to counterattack our forces, or trying to devise a plan to infiltrate Zhao's ship," Beat answered.

"Too bad, I was hoping for a challenge from a few Waterbenders or an Energy bender," Brody said. He then asked, "Which way to her chamber?"

"This way." Beat led the Commander through the palace. At the very top, six Waterbenders were standing guard in front of a pair of ice doors. Inside were four Water Tribe Warriors armed with weapons, guarding the Water Tribe Princess. Princess Yue sat on the floor while her friend Note was practicing her combat skills. She threw punches and kicks and flipped around. She finally stopped and sat down with her arms crossed. "This is so boring and unfair!" she complained. "I should be out there helping on the front lines, not playing backup bodyguard!"

"Trust me, Note, you're not the backup bodyguard. My father put his faith in you to protect me," Yue assured her friend.

"And yet he assigned six other Waterbenders to stand guard outside the door, and four men inside this room," Note whispered.

"He's just being overprotective, like he always has been since the day I was born. Even if he's paranoid, he means well," Yue whispered back. "He asked you to be here because you're my closest friend, so even if he doesn't have complete faith in you, just know that I do."

"Thanks, Yue," Note said as she smiled. "There's something I want to ask you."

"What is it?" Yue inquired.

"Are you seriously gonna go through with your arranged marriage, no matter what?" Note asked.

Yue frowned at her friend's question but answered it anyway. "Yes. It's my duty."

"So, you're just going to put on a fake smile and hide your true feelings for the rest of your life?" Note questioned her. "Your people might think you'll learn to be happy this way, but I know that you'll be unhappy."

"What matters isn't my happiness, but my people's," Yue replied.

"Is that why you didn't object to Sokka going on that dangerous task?" Note questioned. Yue couldn't answer that question; she could only look at her friend in sadness. There was a sudden rumbling noise that got everyone's attention. "What was that?" one of the warriors asked. Note closed her eyes to use her Ki sense. "There are two strong Ki signals heading our way; I don't recognize one of them but the other one seems familiar," Note alerted the Water Tribe warriors.

Outside, Brody and Beat made it to the Princesses chamber where they were confronted by the six Waterbending guards. "Stop right there! Don't come any closer!" one of the Waterbenders warned the duo. "Is she in there?" Brody asked his partner. Beat closed his eyes for a few seconds and replied, "Yes." Brody smirked before slowly approaching the Waterbenders, causing all six of them brought out some water as they prepared to fight the Fire Commander. "Beat, go get what we came for. I'm going to have some fun with these guys," Brody ordered the boy.

"Yes, sir," Beat replied before he sped straight through the doors faster than the Waterbenders could react. The Waterbenders turned to face Commander Brute who was channeling a fiery green Ki throughout his body. "So, who's first?" he asked with a devilish grin.

Beat blasted his way into the room, knocking out two of the tribesmen in the process. Note stood defensively in front of her friend as the remaining two warriors charged at the intruder with their spears. Beat simply jumped and kicked them both in the head, knocking them out. He landed and looked toward the two girls; his eyes grew slightly wide when he saw the girl standing in front of Princess Yue. Note's face held shock as she recognized the male assailant.

"Note?" Beat asked.

"Beat?" Note asked back. "I knew the fire nation would be here, but I didn't expect to see you again."

"I wasn't expecting you to be the Princess' backup protector," Beat replied. "But that won't stop me from completing my mission. Now, stand aside, Note, I only want the princess!"

"You know me better than that, Beat. I don't back down without a fight!" Note responded.

"Note, do you know him?" Yue asked her friend.

"He's…an old friend," Note answered.

"I have no interest in fighting you, Note, but if you stand in my way, then I will not hesitate to strike you down," Beat warned. As the two stared at each other, they started to remember their childhood friendship.

 _Flashback- A Fire Navy Ship sailed toward the Northern Water Tribe and stopped at the city wall. This was no ordinary ship; it was the ship of a very important Firebender, the highest ranking General of all time, and a member of the royal family. This ship belonged to General Iroh, son of Fire Lord Azulon and heir to the throne. With him were his two sons,_ _Lu Ten and Trunks. Iroh brought a few soldiers with him as well a Fire Cornel and his son. The Cornel's kid stood beside his father with pride and excitement as they waited for someone to open up the wall for them to pass. Soon, some Waterbenders came out in canoes to confront the Fire Nation soldiers._

" _Members of the Fire Nation, you are not welcome here! Turn your ship around and leave immediately!" one of the Waterbenders ordered._

" _I assure you, my friend, we mean your tribe no harm. We merely wish to speak with your chief and discuss some things about the war!" Iroh told the Waterbender._

" _We have nothing to discuss with Fire Nation savages! Now leave or we will use force!" the Waterbender warned. The battalion of Waterbenders raised their arms, ready to attack depending on the Fire travelers' response. Just then, a tribesman signaled the Waterbenders to allow them entrance into their city, an order directly from the chief. The Waterbenders bent a curved entrance through the ice wall and directed the Fire Nation travelers to enter. The ship sailed through the city and stopped at an ice shore. The Cornel's kid and Trunks jumped off the ship and landed in the snow. They poked their heads out and smiled at each other before throwing snow at each other._

" _Trunks, be careful," Iroh advised his adopted son._

" _Beat, don't hurt yourself," the Cornel told his son._

 _The boys smiled at their fathers as they climbed out of the snow. As the Fire officers and their soldiers stepped down the ship's stairs, they saw the Northern City leader approaching them with Master Pakku and two tribesmen walking behind him. "Greetings, General Iroh and Cornel Brese. It is an honor to welcome you to our tribe," the Chief greeted the Fire Nation visitors. There were many gasps going around from citizens when they heard that the great General Iroh had appeared in their city. "It is a pleasure to be here, Chief Arnook." Iroh bowed as returned the greeting. "I am here on behalf of Fire Lord Azulon; he wants us to come to a negotiation with you and your people."_

" _Really? The Fire Lord has no desire to conquer our tribe by force?" the Chief questioned._

" _I assure you, Chief, my father is not a savage. Though a bit of a tyrant, he can show decency once in a while," Iroh stated. "Now, is there a place where we can talk in private?"_

" _Of course, right this way." The Chief gestured toward the palace. The Chief and his men began leading the visitors from the Fire Nation through the City. The young boys were looking around with excitement and curiosity, anxious to explore this new place. Although their expressions were ones of joy, many people stared at them cautiously. The group eventually made it to the royal palace; the Chief stepped inside while Iroh and Brese turned to address their sons._

" _Now you boys wait here, this meeting shouldn't take too long," Iroh said._

" _Aw, why do we have to stay here when we could explore this entire place?" Trunks asked._

" _We know you boys are excited about being here, but we're here on an important matter and we'd like to address that first before anything else," Cornel Brese replied. Their small boys pouted but nodded to show that they understood. Brese then patted his son's head and told him, "Be a good boy now, Beat."_

" _Yes, dad," Beat replied._

" _Behave yourself, Trunks," Iroh told his adoptive son._

" _Yes, Father," Trunks said._

 _After instructing Lu Ten to keep an eye on the boys, the Fire officers entered the royal palace followed by a few soldiers. The boys waited for a few minutes until they thought Iroh's oldest son was distracted to try to sneak away. They started tiptoeing away when Lu Ten asked, "Where do you boys think you're going?" making them freeze in their tracks (no pun intended.) The boys quickly turned to face the older bender with nervous smiles on their faces. "Oh, we're uh… going to explore the city," Beat answered._

" _You were told to wait here until our fathers finished with their meeting," Lu Ten reminded them._

" _But Big Brother, we'll be bored just standing here doing nothing, and we just can't wait to explore this place," Trunks argued. "Please, we promise to stay out of trouble."_

 _Iroh's blood son thought for a moment and then relented. "Alright boys, go have some fun, but be sure to be back here in 10 minutes."_

" _Thirty minutes!" Trunks requested._

" _Twenty minutes," he compromised. The boys nodded before running off into the city. Trunks and Beat went from place to place, seeing all the wonderful sights North City had to offer. Citizens continued to stare at the young boys with distrustful looks. The two eventually separated to explore different parts of the city, and after fifteen minutes, Beat decided he should head back to the royal palace. But there was one problem: he wasn't sure how to get back there. The young Ki bender walked around, hoping to find someone who could show him the way back to the palace. He asked a group of Waterbenders for help, but they just glared at him before leaving him on his own._

 _Many of the other residents of the Northern Water Tribe gave young Beat the same response, until eventually he came across a water tribe girl sitting on the edge of an ice bridge, staring into space. "Hi there!" Beat greeted her. The girl was so startled by him that she accidently slipped off the bridge. Her hand managed to grab on to the railing at the last second. Beat quickly rushed over to the girl and grabbed her wrist. He pulled her back onto the bridge. The girl looked at him, confused by his actions. "Sorry for startling you, are you ok?" Beat asked the girl._

" _I'm fine," she replied. "Why'd you help me?"_

" _Why not? You needed help and I was the only one around," Beat answered._

" _But you're from the Fire Nation," she argued._

" _So what?"Beat shrugged._

 _The girl decided to let it go. "Never mind. My name's Note," she introduced herself as she extended her hand._

" _I'm Beat, nice to meet you," Beat greeted back as he shook her hand. The two suddenly had a strange vision; both kids seemed to be in space, right above a blood red planet, battling a bunch of bizarre-looking creatures with the ability to energy bend. Alongside them were two other Energy benders who looked very much alike. One of them seemed to be older and had a scar on his cheek. The other one had lighter skin and a less aggressive expression than the older one. Their vision ended and the two were stunned from what they saw. "_ That was weird, _" they both thought. Then they realized they were still holding hands and quickly let go._

" _So, um, I'm kinda lost and I was wondering if you could help me find the Palace?" Beat asked._

" _Sure, just follow me," Note said. The two of them started walking through the town toward the royal palace. Once they were close, Note stopped and said, "Just keep going straight and you'll reach the palace," while pointing forward._

" _Thanks for your help, Note," Beat told her gratefully. He started to walk away but stopped and looked back at her. "Hey, do you think you could show me around this place, tomorrow?" he inquired._

 _Note thought for a moment and answered, "Sure, no problem, I guess."_

" _Thanks! We'll meet up at the bridge tomorrow, ok, friend?" Beat asked._

" _Friend?" Note repeated._

" _Yeah. You helped me after I helped you, which makes us friends, right?"_

" _But you're from the Fi-never mind." Note sighed before answering, "Yeah, we are friends."_

" _Great! See you tomorrow!" Beat exclaimed as he turned to leave._

" _Beat, wait!" Note called to him. The boy turned around and saw his new friend approaching him. She then wrapped her arms around him, embracing him completely. Beat was surprised by this gesture but didn't push her away. Note finally let go and explained, "That was to thank you for helping me earlier. See you tomorrow, friend." She then took off as Beat stared at her retreating form._

 _The next day, Beat left the inn he was staying at in a hurry; he was very excited to see his new friend again, and even more excited to spend the day exploring the city with her. He appeared at the bridge and saw Note already sitting there, staring at the sky. "Hey, Note!" Beat called to the girl. She turned and smiled when she saw him running toward her. "Hi, Beat! Are you ready to see the town?" she asked. "Yeah! I can't wait!" Beat replied excitedly. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Note insisted as she grabbed Beat's hand and led him into the City. And that's how it was for those two; they spent the days playing together, sparring, and going around the town. Sometimes they would hang out with Trunks, but he mostly left them alone to either be by himself or with Lu Ten. After a week, Beat and Note had gotten really close; although most of the citizens didn't approve of their friendship, the two children continued to enjoy each other's company._

 _One day, they were sitting together on the edge of the ice bridge staring at the horizon together. Although Beat was enjoying the view, Note seemed to have something else on her mind. "What's the matter, Note?" Beat inquired._

" _It's just…I'm glad that we're friends, Beat, but the people in this town don't seem to like that we're getting along," Note replied. "It's hard not to let their influence make you question whether or not it's good that I'm friends with someone from the Fire Nation."_

" _Of course it's a good thing we're friends!" Beat replied._

" _How can you be so sure when we're from two completely different Nations that are practically opposites of each other?" Note questioned._

" _It doesn't matter if I'm Fire Nation or that you're a Water Tribe girl. We're such good friends that the opinion of others shouldn't matter," Beat insisted._

 _Note sighed and said, "I guess you're right, I just wish we could be someplace where our Nation isn't what we're judged on. I mean, my people already don't like you, and the more we stay friends, the more my people will start to think I'm going to betray them to the Fire Nation. Why can't there be a place where we can just be ourselves?"_

 _Beat thought for a moment and responded, "We could find a place like that if we leave."_

" _What do you mean?" Note asked._

" _I mean, it's seems like we can't be friends since neither of our people will allow that, so why not just leave? Go someplace away from the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe where we can be friends without anyone's judgment," Beat suggested._

" _Is there really a place like that?" Note inquired._

" _The world's big; there's gotta be a place like that in the Earth Kingdom," Beat assured._

" _Leave my home? I don't know if I could do that," Note said unsurely._

" _Don't you want to see the world? Haven't you ever wondered what was out there?" Beat asked her. Note just looked out to the ocean while he continued to speak. "There are so many places to explore, so many sights to see. I'm always hearing about the great things in other places, which is why I'm always eager to travel. I also like meeting new people and there's a whole world of new people to meet, but you'll never get to see it if you stuck here for the rest of your life."_

" _I have always wondered what was beyond the ocean, what it would feel like to sail across it," Note confessed._

" _Trust me, it's a life of adventure!" Beat assured. He looked at her and saw the uncertainty on Note's face. "Look, I'm not asking you to leave or decide now, just think about it. I'll be leaving the North Pole soon, and if you decide that you want to leave this place and travel the world, then I'll come back someday to take you. That way, we can be friends forever."_

" _You'll really come back to the North Pole and take me to see the world?" Note asked._

" _Yes," Beat answered._

 _Note thought about the offer for a moment before smiling at her friend and answering, "Ok, I'll go!" She then pulled Beat into a hug, which he returned._

 _Beat then looked up and that the sun was starting to set. "It's getting late, I should probably head home," he said._

" _I'll go with you," Note replied. The two kids got off the bridge and headed toward Beat's inn. As they passed through the city, they saw multiple people running past them in a panicked manner. They also saw bits of fire in the street. When they got to the inn, they saw Coronel Brese fighting against five Waterbenders. The Ki bender seemed to be using non-lethal attacks, as if he was trying to avoid killing or even hurting them while the benders of the ocean were going all out. "Dad!" Beat cried as he ran toward his father. The Coronel noticed his son coming his way and ordered, "No, Beat! Stay back!" He was then struck with a ripple of water and flung into an ice building. "Dad! No!" Beat cried._

 _The group that had attacked the Coronel was now looming over the young Ki bender. "So you're the Coronel's little brat," one of the Waterbenders spoke. "Probably want to join the army and destroy homes like his father. Well, we can't have that, can we?" An ice spear was formed in the Waterbender's hand as he stared at Beat with murderous intent. "This world doesn't need any more Firebenders or Ki benders causing suffering for the Fire Nation!"_

 _Beat was frozen in fear as the Waterbender raised his hand, aiming the ice lance at his target. Before he could strike, however, a Ki blast struck him in the chest and sent him flying away from the young boy. Beat turned around and saw his father standing with his hand leveled at the Waterbender he struck. Brese's armor was cracked and blood slid from above his eyebrow and his lip. "Dad!" Beat exclaimed joyfully. "Beat! Get away from here, now!" Brese warned his son as he saw the Waterbender get back on his feet. The Waterbender and the Ki bender glared at each other as if they were about to fight, but then the Waterbender smirked, which confused Brese until he felt a sharp pain in his chest._

 _The lead Waterbender stood behind Brese with his arm extended toward him. "The Fire Nation already has so many officers in their forces; I'm sure they wouldn't mind if they lost one or two," the Waterbender said with a smirk. Brese looked down and saw an ice spike sticking out of his chest where his heart was located. Blood dripped from his chest as he collapsed. "Dad!" Beat cried as he ran toward his father. He knelt beside him and tried to shake him awake. When the Coronel coughed up blood, Beat held up his head. "Dad, hang on! We'll get you some help!" Beat assured. Brese stared into his son's eyes and gently tapped his cheek with his hand. "Beat…" he said weakly before his hand fell and his eyes went blank. His head slumped as Beat's eyes got watery. "Dad? Dad?! DAD!" Beat cried as he hugged his father's corpse._

 _The group of Waterbenders that attacked Coronel Brese stood together as they watched Beat moan over the death of his beloved father. "Would you look at that, the boy's crying for his daddy," the lead Waterbender laughed. "Guess the Fire Nation trash does have feelings after all." The Water Tribe group laughed as Beat dropped his father and stared at the blood on his hands in horror. His sadness soon turned into rage as he slowly stood up. With a mighty yell, Beat created a shockwave that blew the Waterbenders off their feet. Beat glared at the one who attacked his father with hatred in his eyes. He brought his right hand forward and channeled Ki into it, forming an energy blade._

 _He charged at the Waterbenders, who quickly got up and fired a barrage of ice spikes at the enraged boy. Beat simply slashed at all of the ice projectiles and sliced them to bits; one of the spikes managed to cut his left shoulder but he just ignored the pain. He then used his left hand and fired four blasts at the group of Waterbenders. The four Ki blasts struck four of the Waterbenders and knocked them down. The leader then saw a fifth blast seconds before it struck him in the chest and sent him skidding across the icy floor. The Waterbender who killed Brese struggled to sit up; he saw Beat slowly approaching him while emitting a fiery red aura. The now scared Waterbender attempted to defend himself by launching a tidal wave at the boy, but Beat deflected it with a Ki blast before jumping at the object of his vengeance and thrusting his Ki blade forward. Before he could strike his enemy, Note jumped in front of him and stood there with her arms spread out. "Beat, stop!" she cried._

 _The angry Ki bender stopped dead in his tracks with his spirit sword inches away from Note's face. He seemed hesitant about what he was doing but didn't seem to want to stop until his revenge was accomplished."Please, Beat, don't do this!" Note pleaded. Beat seemed to calm down when he lowered his Ki blade, but then an ice wall rose in between them and Beat was struck in the next by a fire attack, making him fall unconscious. Iroh and his sons appeared beside Beat while Master Pakku stood in front of Note. The wall was lowered and the two masters stared at each other with neutral expressions. "I think it would be best if we left now," Iroh stated._

" _That would be wise, yes," Pakku agreed. "My apologies for the trouble and your loss."_

" _You have mine as well. Give the chief my regards," the General responded. "You know what this means though, right, Pakku?"_

" _Yes I do, Iroh," Pakku replied._

 _General Iroh ordered his men to carry Brese and Beat to their ship. Trunks stood with the soldier who carried Beat and looked at his friend with pity. Note could only stare at her friend as tears formed in her eyes as she thought this would be the last time she'd ever see him. Once they were ready for their departure, the Fire Navy Ships sailed away. Note stood at the bridge, watching them fade into the horizon. Flashback ends._

"This is your last chance Note," Beat warned. "Stand aside, or else!"

"Yue, get out of here, now!" Note ordered her friend.

"But what about you?" Yue asked.

"I'll be fine, just go!" Note assured. The Princess nodded and raced to the back door; Beat tensed like he wanted to stop her, but Note positioned herself to show that he wouldn't get past her. Once Yue was gone, Note took a fighting position and said, "I don't want to fight you, Beat!"

"Too bad, 'cause that's what's about to happen!" Beat shouted as he charged his Ki blade. He rushed at his old friend and swung at her repeatedly. Note dodged all of the slashes before grabbing the blade with her hands; she released her Ki, causing the spirit sword to shatter before she kicked Beat away. Beat shook it off and flew at the female Ki bender. The two began trading blows; Beat punched Note's face and she countered by kicking him in the gut. Beat grabbed her leg and tossed her into the ice wall. "Seems like you still rely on counterattacks in your fights," Beat commented.

"Is that so?" Note asked before she fired an energy blast at her opponent. Beat blocked the attack but was then met with a skull bash assault from Note. The boy was knocked into the side of the room as Note charged at him head-on. She started punching at him rapidly before he elbow bashed her cheek and flew into the air. "You can fly, too?!" she asked as she rose to his level.

"I see Gohan has taught you a few tricks, you've gotten a lot stronger," Beat said.

"So have you," Note remarked. The two then took the same stance, cupping their hands together while channeling energy into their palms. **"Ka…me…ha…me…ha!"** they yelled as they fired the turtle shock wave at each other. The beams pushed against each other until they canceled each other out and exploded. The two Energy benders charged at each other again; Note tried to punch Beat but he ducked and hit her in the jaw with a right uppercut. Note backflipped and kicked Beat in the chin. Beat tried to punch her again but she caught his fist with her legs and tossed him to the wall.

"Feels like you're not really trying. Are you holding back or are you just unfocused?" Note questioned. "You tell me!" Beat shouted before he tackled her into the wall. He clamped his hands together and knocked her to the ground. Beat then attempted to hit her with a double hand chop attack, but before he could strike, his mind flashed Note's pleading expression when she tried to stop him from taking a life. He stopped in his assault, allowing Note to grab his wrists and kick him twice in the chin before double kicking him into the ceiling. She started rapidly blasting him before letting him drop to the floor. She then powered her fist with Ki as she flew at Beat to punch him.

Before she could reach him, she got hit in the side by a green Ki blast and was sent flying into the side of the room. The two old friends looked to where the blast came from and saw Commander Brute standing in front of the room entrance with his hand aimed at Note. Behind him were several beaten Waterbenders and Tribesmen. "Seems like you're having a bit of trouble here, Beat," Brody remarked.

"I'm not having trouble; I've got everything under control!" Beat stated.

"Who the heck are you supposed to be?" Note asked the Commander.

Brody looked in her direction and replied, "I am Commander Brute. Right hand man to the Admiral of the invasion force that is currently attacking your tribe."

"Well, I don't care who you are! Stay out of my way if you don't want to get hurt!" Note warned. She hastily jumped at Brody with energy blasts in both of her palms; the Fire Commander smirked before he dodged Note's assault and kicked her in the stomach. She flinched, allowing Brody to punch her in the right cheek and blast her away. Note landed on her back; she struggled to get up when she noticed Brody above her preparing to strike with a green Ki enhanced fist. She quickly jumped to avoid the attack and Brody's fist crashed into the icy ground, cracking it greatly. Note stared at the older Ki bender as she thought, " _He's stronger and faster than I thought, plus he seems relentless when he fights._ " She was caught shocked when Commander Brute disappeared and reappeared right in front of her with an energy blast pressed at her stomach; she was flung into the wall of the room. She slowly stood up in time to see another Ki blast coming at her but not in time to dodge it.

The blast collided with her and caused an explosion that shrouded her from sight. When the smoke cleared, Note was seen crossing her arms over her face, showing she managed to defend herself at the last second. She lowered her singed arms before passing out from her body's pain. Brody walked over to Note and picked her up by her clothes; he then turned to Beat, who was glaring at him. "Is there a problem?" he questioned.

"You didn't have to step in and steal my fight! I could've beaten her alone!" Beat assured.

Brody laughed and said, "Don't make me laugh, pint size. Now, where's the princess?"

"She's already fled," Beat answered.

"Well that's a shame, 'cause we're not leaving here without a hostage," Brody replied before his eyes focused on the unconscious Note. "I think she'll be a perfect substitute. I'm sure Admiral Zhao will be pleased to know that he has one less Ki bender to be weary of."

"If we're done, then we need to leave now! More Water Tribesmen are coming this way," Beat alerted Brody. The two then made their escape out of the City without getting captured and got back to their boat.

Elsewhere, many of the Water Tribesmen who volunteered for Chief Arnook's mission were lined up in an ice base, including Sokka. The soldiers stood in front of the Chief, who started to explain their assignment. "Men, you'll be infiltrating the Fire Nation navy. That means you'll all need one of these uniforms..." As he spoke, a young man about Sokka's age stepped forward, wearing an old version of the Fire Nation armor. The teen was smirking until he heard someone snickering; all eyes were focused on the Southerner who was covering his mouth. "What's your problem?" the teen asked Sokka.

"Fire Navy uniforms don't look like that," Sokka stated.

"Of course they do. These are real uniforms captured from actual Fire Navy soldiers," the teen assured him.

"When, like a hundred years ago?" Sokka asked.

"Eighty five," the Chief corrected.

Sokka then walked over to the teen in the Fire Nation uniform and started examining the designs. "The Fire Nation doesn't wear shoulder spikes anymore. The newer uniforms are more streamlined." He played with the shoulder spike as he explained the flaws in the armor, but this only seemed to anger the teen.

"How do we know we can trust this guy? Such bold talk for a new recruit," he questioned as he got in Sokka's face. The two glared at each other before the Chief spoke.

"Sokka is from our sister tribe, Hahn. He is a capable warrior and I value his input." Sokka smirked at Hahn as the Chief defended him while Hahn just frowned. Chief Arnook then continued to address the troops. "Now, our first objective is to determine the identity of their commanding officer."

"His name is Zhao," Sokka supplied, which made everyone look at him. "Middle-aged. Big sideburns. Bigger temper."

Before anyone could comment on that, a tribesman came running into the base. "Chief! There's been an incident involving the Princess!"

"What?! Is she alright?!" the Chief asked.

"She safe, but the enemy managed to infiltrate our city. Note tried to fight them, but was captured. They left with her in their custody," the messenger explained. Chief nodded, knowing he had to finish debriefing and go see his daughter.

"Sokka, I want you to tell everything you know to Hahn. He is leading this mission," the Chief instructed the Southerner before addressing the teen leader. "Hahn, show Sokka your respect. I expect nothing less from my future son-in-law."

The Chief left as Sokka's jaw dropped from hearing that news. "Princess Yue's marrying you?" he questioned as he pointed his finger at Hahn.

"Yeah, what of it?" Hahn asked back.

"Nothing, congratulations," Sokka said, though he didn't mean it.

Back in the City, it was late in the afternoon but the rain of flaming rocks didn't let up. Multiple fireballs made impact with the city, Master Pakku and a group of Waterbenders were at the city wall. "Stop those fireballs!" Pakku ordered his men. Together, the Waterbenders bent a giant ice spike that caught one of the fireballs and doused it.

At sea, Fire Navy Ships, with Zhao's in the lead, sailed past the ship that was put on ice and towards the North City. The Fire Admiral stood at bridge of his flagship watching the assault continue. General then came onto the bridge and spoke to the invasion leader. "It's almost twilight, Admiral. As your military consultant I must advise you to halt your attack. The Waterbenders draw their power from the moon and it is nearly full tonight. You should wait and resume the attack at daybreak."

"Oh, I'm well aware of the moon problem and I am working on a solution. But for now, daybreak it is." Zhao replied. His ships lowered their anchors and ceased their attack; the fleet of warships was stationed just outside the city wall. Inside the city, Katara and Princess Yue were watching the Fire Navy Ships stopping their assault. Smoke was in several places from the successful first strike of the Fire Nation, but now everything had gotten quiet and calm. "They've stopped firing," Yue stated.

"Guys!" Katara cried when she saw Aang and Gohan descending into the city on their pets. Appa and Icarus landed near the palace steps as the girls rushed down to check on them. Appa immediately collasped from exhaustion as Aang slid off his head. Icarus was struggling to flap his wings but they drooped from his tired body. Gohan climbed off of the dragon and pat his head. "Take a break pal, you deserve it," he told his animal friend. Icarus licked him before closing his eyes to take a nap; Gohan then looked to his brother, who was putting his hands on his hand in despair. "At least we get to take a break, right?" he told Aang, but the monk gave him no reply.

"I can't do it. I can't do it," Aang mumbled as the girls came up to them.

"What happened?" Katara asked.

"I must have taken out a dozen Fire Navy ships, but there's just too many of them. I can't fight them all," Aang said.

"But you have to! You're the Avatar!" Yue pleaded.

"I'm just one kid," Aang stated sadly. The Southern Waterbender sat beside him to comfort the boy. Gohan felt sympathy toward his friend, as if he felt something similar to what the Avatar was feeling, the fate of the world resting on the shoulders of an extremely powerful yet inexperienced child. His mind was suddenly brought to a time when he said something similar. _"What's the matter, Gohan?! You already have all the power you need, just bring it out!"_ his father instructed him as he struggled to win some sort of beam battle. _"I can't! I can't keep this up! I just can't do it, Dad! It's too much for me to handle; I'm just a kid!"_ Gohan frowned as he silently wished for a way to help the Avatar.

Late at night, the Fire princes were on Zhao's warship completely dressed in grey clothing to help them withstand the cold environment. As they prepared to lower the two person canoe into the water, the door behind them opened and Iroh stepped out. "If you're fishing for an octopus, boys, you need a tightly woven net or he will squeeze through the tiniest hole and escape," the old general advised his pupils.

"We don't need your wisdom right now, Uncle," Zuko replied.

Trunks nudged him and said, "Don't worry Iroh, we can handle it."

"I know. I'm sorry, I just nag you because, well, ever since I lost my son..." Iroh started to say before turning away in pain.

"Uncle, you don't have to say it," Zuko told him.

"I think of you as my own," Iroh finished talking to his nephew before addressing his adoptive son. "And I've taken care of you since you were a little boy. It's been so many years that we're just as close as my Lu Ten. It's like you're my second son."

"I am your son, Iroh," Trunks replied. "Thank you for supporting us throughout this entire journey."

"We'll meet again..." Zuko assured him as he and Trunks bowed to the Fire master, who hugged them both. "...after we have the Avatar." The two then climbed into their canoe and started lowering themselves into the water. "Zuko, remember your Breath of Fire! It could save your life out there! Trunks, channeling your Ki will help you in the cold!" Iroh fussed over his pupils. "We will," the boys replied. "And put your hoods up, keep your ears warm!" Iroh continued to fuss. "We'll be fine!" the boys assured their worried guardian. The retired general watched the teens with concern as they landed in the water and rowed toward the line of Fire Navy Ships and the Northern Water City.

At the Water tribe base, many Water Tribe warriors were preparing for the mission by readying their weapons. Sokka and Hahn were side by side, sharpening their axes on spinning wheels. Although Hahn was calm, Sokka was on edge as his eyes were twitching and he was applying too much force on his axe. "Let me tell ya, Sokka, I've courted a lot of girls but Yue is the finest – and she comes with the most perks," the leader tribesman told the Southerner, which seemed to anger him.

"Perks?! What does that mean?!" he questioned Hahn.

"I mean, Yue's nice and everything, but the points I'll get with the Chief aren't bad either," Hahn elucidated, clearly revealing that he felt no real affection for the princess.

"Princess Yue is wasted on a self-absorbed weasel like you!" Sokka stated, applying more pressure to his weapon.

"Whoa, hang on. What do you care?" Hahn asked the Southerner smugly. "You're just a simple rube from the Southern Tribe. What would you know of the political complexities of our life? No offense."

Furious, Sokka yelled and tackled Hahn; the two began to roll around and wrestle with each other while the other warriors watched. "You're just a jerk without a soul! No offense!" Sokka stated while punching Hahn. The teens continued to roll around until they were separated by Chief Arnook. "That's enough! Sokka, you're off the mission!" he announced before he left. Sokka turned away in shame as Hahn started giving orders. "All right, fall in men! Everybody listen to what I say and we'll take out this Admiral Jo in no time," he declared before leaving with his soldiers.

"It's Admiral Zhao!" Sokka corrected.

With the Fire Princes, the two paddled toward the ice fortress; they steered past ice shards, one of which was occupied by a group of turtle seals. They looked up to see a water tribe scout was keeping watch from on top of the damaged outer wall. The two quickly hid themselves behind an ice shard to avoid detection. Zuko and Trunks parked their canoe on an ice shard and climbed onto it; they spotted several water sentries patrolling the outer wall while armed with spears. They turned away and noticed several turtle seals diving into a hole in the ice.

"Where are they going?" Zuko asked as he and Trunks went over to the hole. "They're coming up for air somewhere..."

"Think this could be our way into the city?" Trunks inquired.

"Only one way to find out," Zuko whispered.

The Firebender and Ki bender took deep breaths and dove into the hole.

Inside the City, The Avatar, the Ki bender, the Southern Waterbender and the Princess were standing in the citadel room gazing at the full moon. "The legends say the moon was the first Waterbender," Yue started to talk about the origin of Waterbenders. "Our ancestors saw how it pushed and pulled the tides and learned how to do it themselves."

"I've always noticed my waterbending is stronger at night," Katara stated.

"It's just like how Firebenders are stronger during the day thanks to the sun," Gohan noted. "That must be why the Fire Nation stopped attacking: they're waiting for daybreak to resume."

"Our strength comes from the Spirit of the Moon; our life comes from the Spirit of the Ocean. They work together to keep balance," Yue explained.

The Avatar who kept his head down in depression suddenly stood up as he got an idea. "The Spirits! Maybe I can find them and get their help!"

"How can you do that?" the Princess asked.

"The Avatar is the bridge between our world and the Spirit World," Katara answered her. "Aang can talk to them!"

"Maybe they'll give you the wisdom to win this battle!" Yue suggested hopefully.

"Or maybe they'll unleash a crazy amazing spirit attack on the Fire Nation!" Aang suggested enthusiastically. When no one seemed to agree with him, he calmed himself. "Or wisdom. That's good, too."

"The only problem is, last time you got to the Spirit World by accident," Katara reminded him. "How are you going to get there this time?"

"I have an idea, follow me!" Yue said. The Water tribe princess led the benders through the courtyard to a small wooden door.

"So is this the way to the Spirit World?" Aang asked.

Yue laughed and replied, "No, you'll have to get there on your own. But I can take you to the most spiritual place in the entire North Pole." She opened the door and Aang walked inside, where he found himself staring at a large pool of water and a gushing waterfall. In the center of this pool was a small land that was full of grass and had a much smaller pool in it. Two fish, one black and one white, swam in a circle in the pond. The land was marked by a small gate and it was connected to the entrance by two wooden bridges. Aang stared at the place, astonished by its beauty.

The monk ran across the left bridge toward the land; once there, he started to feel the soft grass. "I never thought I'd miss grass this much!" he exclaimed.

The girls and Gohan soon joined him in the Oasis. "It's so warm here! How is that possible?" Katara asked as she and Yue took of their coats.

"How bizarre; I can sense a lot energy in this place," Gohan said.

"It's the center of all spiritual energy in our land," Yue explained. Momo then wandered over to the pond and tried to grab one of the Koi fish. The girls gave him stern looks and the Lemur bat ran off.

"You're right, Yue. I can feel... something... It's so... tranquil," Aang stated. He then sat down in his meditative position and closed his eyes, trying to enter the Spirit World.

In the home of the turtle seals, the sea creatures were stationed by the small opening for their underwater cave when the fire princes suddenly burst out of the water and into the cave. They laid across the cave floor, breathing heavily and shivering. Zuko let out two breaths of fire to heat himself up while Trunks channeled his ki throughout his body. The Turtle seals barked loudly as the princes tried to rest a bit. Unable to handle the noise anymore, Prince Zuko shouted, "Be quiet!" to the sea creatures. The animals stopped barking as the princes got up and walked past them, but resumed afterward. "Maybe we should rest a bit more," Trunks suggested.

"No, we need to keep moving," Zuko said.

The princes wandered over to a waterfall at the back of the cave. "You go first," Trunks told his friend. Zuko nodded before he climbed into it with Trunks right behind him. Slowly but surely, the two benders climbed the water tunnel.

Back at the armory, the Southern tribesman was sadly sharpening his weapon while sitting on the floor. The Chief then walked up behind him and inquired, "Is something wrong, Sokka?"

"Oh no! Hahn's out there on the top secret mission while I'm here sharpening my boomerang. Everything's fine!" Sokka replied sarcastically.

"Listen to me. I took you off the mission for selfish reasons," Arnook explained. "I have a special task in mind for you."

"What? You want me to scrub the barracks?" Sokka asked bitterly.

The Chief didn't seem to mind his attitude. "I want you in charge of guarding my daughter, Princess Yue. There's already been an attempt to capture her once, and I feel she'd be much safer if you and your friends were protecting her. Will you get your friends to do this for me?" the Chief and father asked his daughter's "friend."

"Er, sure. That shouldn't be too hard," the teen replied, excited and confused.

The Princes continued to scale the water tunnel; Zuko slipped but Trunks helped him up. They eventually made it out of the tunnel and entered a large pool of water; they floated upward and reached the surface. Their heads rose out of the water just under an ice roof as they took in some air. They took another deep breath and sank back under the water; they scanned around until they found another passageway. The two swam through the tunnel all the way toward a source of outside light. They approached the light but were unable to go any further due to the thick layer of ice cutting them off. In need of air, the two put their hands together and started to heat up the ice surface with a combination of fire and Ki.

They finally managed to melt the ice and made an opening for themselves; they exited the water and emerged into another ice tunnel, this time inside the North city. They lied on the icy ground to regain their strength. Zuko then stated, "We're in. Now comes the hard part, finding the Avatar without getting spotted."

"You're wrong. The hard part isn't finding the Avatar without detection; it wasn't even getting inside this ice fortress," Trunks corrected. "It's going to be getting out of here with him in our grasp."

Zuko closed his eyes as he realized his friend was right. "Maybe so, but we've come too far to just turn back now," he said.

"So, do you have a plan to get us out of here without any trouble?" Trunks questioned.

First things first, where's the Avatar?" Zuko asked back.

Trunks closed his eyes as he focused on sensing the Avatar's life force. He immediately opened his eyes when he found Aang' Ki. "Got him," he said.

At the Oasis, the Avatar was still in his meditative position while Gohan, Katara, and Princess Yue were standing behind him. After a few minutes, nothing seemed to happen. "Why is he sitting like that?" Yue asked in a whisper.

"He's meditating – trying to cross over into the Spirit World. It takes all his concentration," Katara whispered back. Although he didn't show it, Aang was clearly disturbed by their conversation; his face turned hard as he tried to maintain his concentration.

"Is there any way we can help?" Yue asked.

Now irritated, Aang yelled, "How 'bout some quiet?! C'mon guys! I can hear every word you're saying!" The Monk then resumed his meditation. He started to stare into the small pond where the Koi fish were circling each other; he seemed to be entranced by their routine. Eventually, he started to see the Yin-Yang symbol through the fish and his eyes and tattoos immediately started to glow in response. "Whoa!" Gohan said.

"Is he okay?" Yue asked.

"He's crossing into the Spirit World," Katara explained. "He'll be fine as long as we don't move his body. That's his way back to the physical world."

"Maybe we should get some help?" Yue suggested.

"No, he's our friend. Gohan and I are perfectly capable of protecting him," the Waterbender assured.

"Well, aren't you big kids now," a familiar voice echoed through the oasis. The three looked to the side and saw Trunks and Zuko crossing the footbridge toward them.

"No," Katara said.

"Yes," Zuko replied. "Hand him over, and I won't have to hurt you."

"You know we won't do that!" Gohan stated.

"Then we're just gonna have to hurt you!" Trunks shouted.

Gohan and Katara took their stances while Princess Yue took off to get help. The Princes took their stances as the four prepared to fight. Gohan and Katara looked at each other and nodded; the Son of Goku then pulled out his sword and jumped at the princes. Trunks quickly pulled out his own blade and blocked Gohan's attack. The two entered a sword battle while Zuko advanced on Katara. He launched a fire kick at the girl before shooting two flames from his fist. Katara easily blocked the flames with water as Zuko got closer; the Firebender continued to shoot flames while the Waterbender continued to block them. Seeing an opening, Katara managed to smack Zuko backward with a blast of water.

The Prince flew backward and landed on his face. "I see you've learned a new trick," Zuko commented as he stood back up. "But I didn't come this far just to lose to you!" He threw another fireball but Katara doused it with water and hit him with another liquid attack.

Gohan and Trunks continued to slash at each other until Trunks knocked the Z Sword out of the boy's hands. He then swung his sword at his unarmed opponent, but Gohan quickly grabbed the blade with his bare hands. He then kicked Trunks away, making him release his weapon in the process. Gohan threw the Brave Sword aside as Trunks charged at him. The two Ki benders started trading blows until Trunks managed to punch Gohan in the face and began repeatedly punching him. Trunks then tried to kick Gohan's head but he grabbed the older teen's leg and countered with his own kick. Trunks was knocked into the glacier, and Gohan quickly placed his hands above his head and poured Ki into his palms to follow up on his attack.

" **Masenko… Ha!"** he cried as he fired his signature attack at the prince. Trunks quickly jumped to avoid it but Gohan smirked as he shifted his hands, bending the beam to swerve upward before it nailed Trunks in the back. The lavender haired teen crashed into the ground right beside his comrade. The princes then found their feet iced to the ground, immobilizing them. The Southern Waterbender then motioned her arms rapidly, causing waves of water to swirl around the intruders before it froze with them inside. Katara was satisfied at what she did with her current level of skill. _"She's gotten a lot better at fighting with water, she's even a challenge now!"_ Trunks thought in surprise.

"You little peasant. You've found a master, haven't you?" Zuko said to Katara from inside the ice prison. The ice started to glow red and yellow before exploding, allowing the princes to fight again. The Princes fired their attacks simultaneously while Katara and Gohan deflect the attacks with their own bending. Zuko got closer to them and threw his hand charged with fire at them. The two separated and Zuko continued to fight Katara while Trunks took Gohan. He managed to slip past Katara and tried to grab Aang, but Katara stopped him by knocking away with a water strike. The Firebender landed flat on his back. Trunks was throwing multiple blows at Gohan, until the boy eventually blew him away with a kiai and sent him flying into Zuko. "Katara, now!" Gohan yelled.

Katara then created a giant wave that raised the intruders upward and pinned them against the glacier before turning it into ice to restrain them once again.

The sun suddenly started to rise as a new day had come. Master Pakku and some of his Waterbenders were standing on top of the inner wall as the sun began to shine across their city that was about to be invaded by the Fire Nation. They stared out to where the sky met the sea, waiting as the Fire navy ships sail toward their home. Admiral Zhao stood on the bridge of his ship and smirked. "It's daybreak at last. Let's write history," he said with anticipation. On another ship inside a prison hold, Note stirred awake. She touched her head before she recalled what happened. She got up and rushed to the prison door, seeing Beat standing guard outside her cell. He noticed she was conscious and spoke to her. "Good, you're awake. You wouldn't want to miss this."

"Miss what?!" Note questioned.

"The Conquering of the Northern Water Tribe," he answered.

At the Oasis, the princes stayed frozen in place as the sun shined over the entire place. Now filled with newfound strength, Zuko raised his head and snarled, letting out a fiery steam that melted their icy prison and freed them. The princes landed on the grass undetected and Trunks fired a Ki blast at the Avatar's defenders. Gohan, sensing the attack, quickly cried, "Look out!" as he pushed Katara out of the way. The blast hit him and knocked him into the water. "Gohan!" Katara cried before she noticed Zuko attacking her; she bent a wall of water to shield herself but the fire attack was stronger than she could handle while off guard. The blaze crashed into the water and the force knocked Katara into the gate post, where she fell unconscious. "You rise with the moon. I rise with the sun," Zuko stated as he grabbed Aang by the collar.

Gohan suddenly jumped out of the water and yelled, "Let him go!" as he fired a ki blast at the princes. Trunks deflected the attack and charged at Gohan. The two started trading blows until Trunks kicked Gohan in the gut and blasted him away. Gohan charged at Trunks and skull bashed him in the face. He then clamped his hands and knocked Trunks to the ground. He was about to dive at his foe when he was hit with a fire blast from Zuko. Trunks and Zuko began rapidly blasting at Gohan, who crossed his arms to defend himself. When the attacks seemed to stop, Gohan lowered his arms, only to see Trunks right in front of him with his hand generating a ball of energy.

" **Big Bang Attack!"** Trunks exclaimed as he fired a large ball of power at the spiky haired teen. Gohan was consumed by the blast as it exploded, and he was thrown into the glacier where he bounced off and landed beside Aang with his head in the water. Trunks looked at his enemy and said, "I was barely trying when we started fighting, but I'm done toying with you, Gohan." The Son of Goku looked over to his brother, now in the grasp of Prince Zuko, and mumbled, "I'm sorry, Aang, I've failed you again." He then saw the Koi fish swimming around his head before his eyes turned blank and he passed out. Trunks fired two energy rings that bound Gohan's hands and feet together before picking him up.

"Why are you taking him?" Zuko asked his friend.

"He can probably sense Ki like I can. If his friends were to show up, it would better if they can't track us by our life force," Trunks explained, to which Zuko nodded.

At the City, the Fire Navy Ships began to collide with the outer wall, and as they did, their bowsprits shifted to bridges, allowing the Fire Navy Troops to storm the city. The leader of the invasion force started toward the town as his soldiers marched into the city and attacked. "Water Tribe can try to resist the inevitable, but their city will fall today," Admiral Zhao declared while General Iroh stood behind him.

At the Oasis, Katara's eyes shot open and she quickly sat up. She looked around to find that the Fire Princes were gone, along with her friends. "Aang! Gohan!" she cried but received no answer. She rose to her feet as Momo ran in front of her. Just then, Icarus and Appa descended in the oasis with Princess Yue and Sokka in Appa's saddle. "What happened? Where are Trunks and Zuko?" Sokka asked as he jumped down.

"They took Aang and Gohan. They took them right out from under me," Katara answered sadly. The three teens stared into the pond in sadness; Momo looked at the teens with his ears drooping in depression. "Where did they go?" Sokka questioned.

High above the Oasis glacier, the Princes were trekking through an intense blizzard with Trunks carrying the unconscious prisoners; Gohan on his shoulder and Aang under his arm. Slowly but surely, Zuko and Trunks forged ahead as they struggled to escape the snowstorm.

 **A/N: And, done with part one! Now I know it's longer than my usual chapters but I had to put a lot of good work into this one and that took some time. I'm sorry if Note's fights were short even with this long chapter but that was the best I could do for now. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed it and plan to continue reading because the second part is coming soon to a Fanfic near you. Send your reviews and give your support, they encourage me and give me strength to keep writing. Until next time my readers, TTFN AntiHero out!**

 **Recommendations:**

 **Escalation by heroman45**

 **Fairy Tail: Legend of Aang by Switch-On-97**

 **The Golden Fairy by Superale2**

 **New Face of Justice by Comorep677**

 **Power Within by Xman321**

 **Misplaced by Maximillian Havisham**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: We're back! I know I might've just recently finished the chapter before this one and it may seem too soon to you, but I wanted to post both at the same time. Anyway, we are now at the end of the 1** **st** **season of Five Elements; I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, put all my heart and soul into making this as exciting as I can. Now, it's time to pick up where we left off… Water, Earth, Fire, Air, and Ki… Five Elements the North Pole Siege part two!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own Dragon Ball Z or Avatar the Last Airbender**

 **Chapter 19 – The Siege of the North Pole part 2**

Fireballs were launched into the ice fortress, and Fire Navy troops were storming the city as the Northern Water Tribe faced its second day of war against the Fire Nation Admiral Zhao and his fleet. If things weren't bad enough, they got worse when the Princes of the Fire Nation, Trunks and Zuko, had managed to sneak into the oasis and capture Aang and Gohan before they could help end this battle. Katara was full of sadness after she was defeated by the Son of Ozai in combat and her friends were taken. "I can't believe I lost them," Katara grieved as she knelt down at the pond.

"You did everything you could, and now we need to do everything we can to get them back," Sokka comforted his sister. "Zuko and Trunks couldn't have gotten far. We'll find them. Our friends will be all right."

"Okay," Katara replied as she stood up. She got in Appa's saddle with Yue while Sokka sat on the Bison's head. Momo chattered sadly while looking at the pond and Icarus cried in a state of worry. "It's okay guys, you stay here in Aang and Gohan come back," Katara told the pets.

"Yip, yip!" Sokka whipped the reins and Appa took off; he flew to the top of the oasis waterfall and into the snowstorm.

The Fire Princes continued to trek through the blizzard while the lavender-haired teen carried their prisoners. Aang's tattoos were still glowing, but his eyes were closed, as were Gohan's, both apparently not conscious of what was going on at the moment.

* * *

Aang suddenly found himself sitting in his meditative position on a platform in a strange bamboo swamp. A white bird flew right above him. Realizing he must be in the spirit world, Aang got up and wandered around. He heard a humming noise and turned to see a spirit monkey in a monk outfit meditating. He approached the spirit and said, "Hello? I'm sorry to disturb you, but I just really need to find the Moon and the Ocean spirits."

"Go... away," was the monkey's reply. He opened one eye and saw the young monk hadn't left. "You're still here?"

"Yes! I need–" Aang tried to explain but was interrupted.

"Ohmm!" the Monkey shut his eyes and hummed loudly, hoping to block out Aang. He then spotted a blue speck of light. "Perhaps that thing will help you? Chase it!" The Airbender ran after the speck and Monkey sighed. "Finally."

Aang chased the speck of light through the swamp and up a tree; he jumped and caught it while smiling. After he landed in the tree, the branch he was standing on broke down, causing him to fall into the water. As he crashed, the will-o'-the-wisp slipped from his grasp and flew away. "Come back!" Aang cried as he stood up. He looked into the water at his blurry reflection; it then shifted into an image of his spiritual teacher: Avatar Roku.

"Hello, Aang," Roku greeted his successor.

"Roku!" Aang exclaimed.

* * *

Inside Gohan's mind, the young Ki bender woke up in a place full of grass and trees. He looked around and saw that he was standing on a large cliff. _"Where am I?"_ he wondered. He then noticed that his body was much smaller, that he had somehow been reverted back to his four-year-old size. "What happened to me?!" His mind recalled that he was fighting the Fire Princes with Katara and that he lost. "Trunks defeated me again, so now they probably have Aang," Gohan said sadly. "Wait a minute, am I… dead?" He closed his eyes for a moment before reopening them. "I can still sense everyone's Ki, so maybe I'm not dead." The boy then looked up when he felt the presence of another person.

He spotted a man he had seen in one of his previous visions: a tall being with green skin, pointy ears, sharp nails that made perfect claws, wearing a purple Gi with brown shoes, and a white hat and cape. His eyes were closed as he was in a meditative position. "It's about time you noticed me," the being said, letting go of his position and descending toward the ground. He stared at Gohan with intense eyes as the wind blew around them.

" _Why do I feel like I should know him very well?"_ Gohan thought.

"Do you know who I am?" the green being questioned.

"Uh no, should I?" Gohan inquired.

"I know you lost a lot of your memories, but try to remember me, Gohan," the being said.

Hearing this man say his name made Gohan sense something from him: pride, compassion, and joy. He also sensed depression from this man, like they hadn't seen each other in a long time. Gohan's mind suddenly brought him back to a time where he was training in this very same field with this guy. His memory then changed to one where he was being attacked by a large, bulky, bald man; this man fired an enormous energy blast at the frightened boy that was surely meant to kill him, but at the last second, the green stranger flashed right in front of the Son of Goku and took the blast for him. The green warrior screamed in agony as the explosion incinerated his body. Gohan started crying over the death of this green person, who he seemed to have a close bond with. His grief immediately turned to rage, and he summoned all his power, firing a powerful Ki blast at the murderer.

The memory shifted to where the green fighter seemed to be suffering in pain as he was being attacked by a giant blue demon; the monster swung his fist at the green one, but Gohan instantly appeared in between them and blocked the attack. Moments later after defeating the enemy, Gohan smiled at his green friend and said, _"Piccolo, we won. We did it ourselves, and we didn't need my Dad this time!"_

" _Nah, kid, we needed your Dad very much, and he was here the whole time,"_ the green fighter replied.

" _What? He was?"_ a confused Gohan inquired.

" _Yeah, he was inside you, Gohan,"_ Piccolo stated while placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. Gohan then smiled again before passing out in his friend's arms. _"Sleep well, Gohan, I'm proud of you."_

The memory went to where Gohan was an adult and on the battlefield. He was repeatedly being zapped with red beams by a creature with horns sitting in some floating chair. Gohan finally collapsed, and the monster mocked him. The fiend then pointed his finger at the downed Gohan and declared, _"Your death will balance the scales! It's what you get for being a Saiyan, and it's what you deserve for being Goku's son! Now die!"_ The fiend fired a death beam at the immobilized Gohan, but once again Piccolo jumped in front of him and took the blast instead. Piccolo collapsed and died instantly, leaving Gohan in a state of shock. _"Piccolo, why? Why would you do that?"_ Gohan muttered as he stared at the burning hole in his master's corpse. Piccolo's death, again, triggered Gohan's inner rage and he powered up as a result.

Moments later, Gohan was before his master once again, asking him to train him again to which Piccolo agreed. Gohan and Piccolo were then sparring in the rain; Piccolo had the upper hand due to his increased power and improved fighting sense. After he won, Piccolo explained Gohan's weakness of arrogance and hesitation. After his mentor encouraged him to be a true warrior and fight at his best, Gohan pushed himself to greater heights, and the two resumed fighting. Gohan had the advantage but let his arrogance blind him again, to which Piccolo stated he inherited it from his father. He instructed Gohan to lose that pride and to be alert till the fight was over.

Days later, the master and student were competing in a team tournament; their enemy was attacking them from the shadows. As they tried to find a way to track down the sniper, a shot is fired at Gohan. Piccolo sensed it and jumped in front of his first friend. As a result, he lost both his arms, but he was able to regenerate them. _"Are you okay, Gohan?"_ Piccolo asked.

" _I'm fine, but what about you?"_ Gohan asked back.

Current Gohan suddenly snapped out of his road down memory lane and stared at the fighter before him. "I remember you now! You're my mentor, Piccolo!" Gohan exclaimed.

"Glad you remember me; it's good to see you again, Gohan," Piccolo responded.

* * *

In the physical world, the Princes proceeded to push their way through the heavy weather. After a few more steps, the ice underneath began to crack; the princes looked behind them and saw the ice floor was about to crumble. The two started to run while Trunks continued to carry the boys. They barely managed to stay ahead of the splitting ice floor before it eventually stopped and the four tumbled across the snow. The Princes looked back and saw a giant ice abyss that was recently formed. Prince Zuko looked forward and spotted a small opening. "Shelter," he said, getting Trunks' attention.

Zuko led his partner to the small cave. Trunks placed Aang and Gohan down so that he could build a fire. Zuko then tied Aang's hands and feet to prevent him from bending in case he woke up.

* * *

Aang stared down at the reflection of his Avatar guide. "Roku, the Water Tribe is under attack. I need to find the Ocean and Moon spirits!" he told his predecessor.

The swamp water shot upward and took the form of Avatar Roku. "The Ocean and the Moon are ancient spirits. They crossed over from the Spirit World to the Mortal World very near the beginning," Roku explained. "There is only one spirit I know of who is old enough to remember."

"Who?" Aang asked.

"The spirit's name is Koh. But he is very dangerous. They call him... the Face Stealer." Aang's face turned frightened from this information. "When you speak with him you must be very careful to show no emotion at all – not the slightest expression or he will steal your face!" Roku warned. Aang grew more scared but quickly recovered and nodded.

* * *

"Master Piccolo, what is this place?" Gohan questioned. "Am I dead?"

"You are very much alive, Gohan," Piccolo answered. "And this place is one picked out from our memories."

"You mean the place where you first trained me, the valley of monsters," Gohan recalled. "I can't stay here; my brother needs my help, and I have to go!"

"I'm afraid you cannot leave," Piccolo stated. "You seem to be conflicted about some things, so I brought you here to be your teacher once again."

"I don't have time for a lesson, an entire city is being attacked, and my friends are in trouble! I have to help them now!" Gohan urged.

"If you wish to leave this place, Gohan," Piccolo said while entering a fighting position, "then you'll have to get past me first!"

* * *

The wind continued to rage on. Appa landed, and Sokka got off to search for any sign of their friends. He spotted the large canyon that the fire princes created but their trail seemed to have vanished. Sokka looked back at the girls; Katara's expressed depression as they didn't know their friends' fate.

In the small cave, with the fire going and their prisoners restrained, Trunks and Zuko decided to sit out and wait for the snowstorm to die down. Zuko blew fire into his hands, attempting to keep himself warm. "We finally have him. But we can't get him home because of this blizzard," Zuko spoke to his friend.

"Well, we knew this was never going to be easy, didn't we?" Trunks asked.

"I know, it's just… there's always something." Zuko then looked at their prisoners. "Not that they would understand though."

"Well, they are our enemies," Trunks reminded him.

"It's funny, the Avatar reminds me of my sister." Zuko got up and stared out the cave entrance into the blizzard. "Everything always... came easily to her. She's a firebending prodigy – and everyone adores her."

"Yeah, Azula has always been special to our nation," Trunks agreed. "She's powerful, graceful, cunning, and beautiful. She's the Sapphire Princess alright." Trunks' face shifted to a smile as he thought about the daughter of Ozai; he frowned afterward when another person came to his mind. "I guess my sister is no different. She's been more gifted than I am, and she's done everything she could to be just like Azula; she's even named herself the Sapphire Shadow."

"My father says our sisters were born lucky, and that we were lucky to be born." Zuko expressed hurt from how his own father berated him. "But I don't need luck though, I don't want it. I've always had to struggle and fight and that's made me strong. It's made me who I am," the Prince declared.

Trunks placed his hand on his comrade's shoulder. "It's made us who we are. And that means we're not letting anything stand in the way of completing our mission, not even this blizzard."

* * *

At the City, Fire Navy Ships were stationed outside the wall, still shooting fireballs into the city. Many Fire soldiers were riding on Komodo Rhinos with mini catapults while Fire Tanks closed in on the inner wall. The Northern Waterbenders fired water blasts in an attempt to defend their city; two tanks were knocked away but the rest launched grappling hooks at the ice barrier. The defenders scattered as the grappling hooks pierced through the inner wall. The tanks reeled in their chains while fastening themselves to the ice. The chains pulled until the ice cracked and a large piece of it was removed, allowing Firebenders to march in on their rhinos. The area in between the inner wall and the outer wall was completely void of people and was now overrun with Fire Nation invaders. More fireballs were launched into the city, more tanks were penetrating the inner wall, and more fire troops were invading.

It was clear that this was a one-sided battle and that the Water Tribe could not hold out for long. Outside the city, the leader of the invasion force was standing at the bridge of his head ship, watching his army demolish the Northern Water Tribe with glee. His general came up to him. "I don't need to remind you that we have a time limit," Iroh stated. "If we don't defeat the Water Tribe before the full moon rises, they will be unbeatable."

"I assure you, I have everything under control. In fact, I intend to remove the moon as a factor," Zhao divulged.

"Remove the moon? How?" Iroh inquired.

They were suddenly interrupted by someone appearing on the bridge and shouting, "Admiral Choi!" A Fire soldier pulled off his helmet, revealing himself to be Hahn. The Water Tribesman brought out his spear and declared, "Prepare to meet your fate!" He charged at the Fire Admiral, attempting to skewer him, but Zhao effortlessly tossed the teen off the ship and into the water while General Iroh shook his head pitifully. "As I was saying... years ago I stumbled upon a great and powerful secret... the identity of the Moon Spirit's mortal form," Zhao spoke on.

"What?" Iroh asked in surprise.

"I was a young Lieutenant serving under General Shu in the Earth Kingdom..." Zhao explained as he remembered his youth. The Lieutenant Zhao was somewhere dark, reading thousands of scrolls with a candle for light. His eyes seemed fascinated in a particular scroll. "I discovered a hidden library, underground in fact. I tore through scroll after scroll. One of them contained a detailed illustration and the words "moon" and "ocean." I knew then that these spirits could be found – and killed. And that it was my destiny to do so."

"Zhao, the Spirits are not to be trifled with!" Iroh warned the Admiral.

"Yes, yes, I know you fear the Spirits, Iroh. I've heard rumors about your journey into the Spirit World," Zhao said condescendingly. "But the Ocean and Moon gave up their immortality to become a part of our world and now they will face the consequences!"

* * *

"I have to what?" Gohan asked.

"Did I stutter? I said you'll have to get past me first!" Piccolo repeated.

"I don't have time for this, I need to go back to help my friends now!" the boy urged his mentor.

Piccolo dropped his stance before turning his back to Gohan, which confused the boy. After a few seconds, Piccolo aimed his hand at the spiky-haired teen and fired an energy blast at him. Acting on instinct, Gohan jumped into the air to avoid the attack, leaving himself open to Piccolo's frontal assault. The green fighter swung his fist at the boy; Gohan blocked it by crossing his arms, but the force behind the attack pushed him back a few feet. Piccolo tried to kick his pupil, but Gohan blocked the attack. The green fighter then fired a blast from his mouth and Gohan dodged it by going airborne again. Piccolo caught the boy off guard by striking him with energy blast from his eyes.

The eye beams vaporized Gohan and he fell hard on the ground. Piccolo simply stared at his old student with a neutral expression. "If you have time to complain, then you have time to fight back!" he said.

The Son of Goku slowly stood up and wiped his forehead. "I guess I have no choice but to fight you," Gohan replied.

"If you truly wish to leave, then you're going to have to defeat me first." Piccolo took off his cape and hat. "And I assure you, it won't be an easy task. So you'd better fight with everything you've got."

Gohan nodded as he entered his fighting stance. After a few seconds, Gohan jumped at his master and threw a punch to his face, but Piccolo easily caught it.

* * *

Back in the Spirit world, the Avatar was hopping across wooden pylons toward a giant twisted tree with a stable source of light behind it. He stopped in front of the tree just as an enormous jackal-like spirit walked behind it. Aang saw a dark hole at the bottom of the tree for entrance; as he slowly approached the entrance; his face grew more and more scared when he suddenly heard a screeching noise that startled him. "Oh! Whew! You're just a curly tailed blue nose," Aang said in relief. The spirit turned its head to the monk, revealing that it had no face. Aang gasped but quickly calmed himself down before taking a deep breath. "Show no fear. Show no emotion at all," Aang spoke, his voiced mixed with Roku's. Now mentally prepared, the Airbender walked into the lair of the Face Stealer.

Aang went down a dark staircase while looking around for the face stealer. As he went down, he failed to notice the moving creature hiding along the ceiling in darkness as he said, "Hello? I'm looking for a spirit named 'Koh.'" The creature's legs started to move. Aang sensed that he wasn't alone and looked around for Koh; he saw nothing and was unaware of the spirit creeping up behind him. Koh smiled before he rushed into Aang's face and greeted, "Welcome!" Its body consisted of a giant centipede while its face was a white clown-like one with red lips. Although he attempted to scare Aang, the Avatar showed no trace of fear for the face stealer. "Thank you," Aang responded as he bowed to Koh.

"My old friend, the Avatar. It's been a long time," Koh stated.

"You know me?" Aang inquired.

"How could I forget … you? One of your previous incarnations tried to slay me! It was eight or nine hundred years ago!" Koh sneered as his face changed into that of a middle-aged man and got in Aang's face.

If the Avatar was surprised, he didn't show it as he continued to talk to the spirit. "I didn't know that. Why did he... or I... try to kill you?"

"Oh... it was something about stealing the face of someone you loved..." Koh explained as his face changed into that of a beautiful woman with long flowing black hair. Aang stared at the woman's face, showing no sign of recognizing it or feeling any emotional attachment to it. Koh soon laughed while switching to a curly tailed blue nose face. "Of course, that's all behind us. Why should I hold a grudge against you for something in a past life? After all, you're a different person now. You've come to me... with a new face," Koh whispered into Aang's ear; the monk took a deep breath which transcended to his physical body.

The Fire Princes noticed Aang's movement. Prince Zuko looked out the cave entrance, seeing that the snowstorm was still going strong. "Guess we'll be here awhile," Zuko said.

* * *

Gohan and Piccolo's battle continued on, the green master having the advantage in everything, yet Gohan's determination prevented him from backing down. The young fighter rushed at his teacher to deliver a hand chop strike, which Piccolo simply blocked with his forearm. Gohan continued his assault by throwing multiple blows at his green foe, all of which Piccolo blocked before knocking Gohan to the ground with two blows to the head. Gohan stood up and rubbed his head. "Is that the best you can do?" Piccolo questioned. Gohan jumped at Piccolo again but the Demon King easily knocked him away. Gohan bounced off a tree and charged at his teacher again. He threw numerous strikes at Piccolo, but he swiftly dodged all of them before kicking Gohan in the gut. The black haired child grasped his stomach in pain as he stayed on the ground.

"What? Finished already?" Piccolo asked the boy.

"N-Not even close," Gohan answered as he stood up again.

"What are you even fighting for?" Piccolo questioned his student.

"Huh? You know the answer already," Gohan declared. "I have to go back to my friends and help them!" Gohan charged at his mentor again, throwing punches and kicks that never seemed to make contact. Gohan then managed to get a hit in when he kicked Piccolo in the chest; when Piccolo flinched a bit he tried to strike him again with a punch to the face, but the master grabbed his fist and threw the boy away. Gohan landed on his feet just as Piccolo fired a blast from his hand. Gohan blocked it with his hands and pounced toward his teacher. Piccolo fired another beam with his mouth; Gohan dodged it by bending backward before jumping above his opponent. Piccolo attacked again with his eye beams but Gohan avoided by flipping backward. "You'll never hit me with the same old trick!" Gohan exclaimed.

"Then how about a new trick?!" Piccolo yelled as the antenna on his head released an electric blast that zapped the young boy. Gohan fell to the ground face first as his body was smoking from Piccolo's attack. Gohan struggled to get up again as Piccolo repeated his question. "What are you fighting for?"

"I already told you, I have to help my friends!" Gohan answered.

"That's why you're fighting me! But why do you fight at all?!" Piccolo rephrased.

"What do you mean by that?" Gohan asked.

"I mean you spend all your time fighting in a war against an entire nation, taking on foes much stronger than you and yet you hold back to avoid really hurting or killing them," the Demon King elucidated. "So I ask again, what exactly are you fighting for?" After waiting a few minutes, Gohan could do nothing but look down as he could not provide his teacher an answer. "No answer; then you might as well give up!"

"No! Never!" Gohan cried as he rushed toward Piccolo again. He tried to kick his mentor but was surprised when his attack seemed to hit nothing. He looked back and saw that his master had dodged his strike by splitting in two. "What the heck?! Is this some sort of magic trick?! No fair, Piccolo!"

"It's not magic, kid! I'm using nothing more than my Ki to perform this technique!" Piccolo stated before the two Piccolos flew straight at the boy. Gohan struggled to keep up with the duo before he suddenly slipped and was kicked away. Gohan quickly recovered and charged at his opponents, but one them reacted by waving his hands and unleashing a shockwave that paralyzed Gohan. Gohan struggled to fight against the electricity that was licking his body but it was futile. "What are you fighting for?! Tell me!" Piccolo asked again. As he spoke, his clone was pointing two fingers at his forehead and focusing Ki into them.

"I-I don't know!" was the only answer Gohan could give.

"Then you'd better get used to this place, 'cause it doesn't look like you're leaving any time soon!" said the Piccolo clone. He lowered his fingers and pointed them at Gohan. **"Special Beam Cannon!"** the clone cried as he fired a spiraling beam at the Son of Goku. The attack hit Gohan and blasted him off the large cliff; he started to scream as he fell down a large abyss before he quickly grabbed onto the side of the canyon. He sighed in relief while looking down into pure darkness as far as they eye could see. He then looked up and saw both Piccolos standing at the edge of the cliff and glaring down at him with stern looks.

* * *

In the physical world, Katara, Sokka, and Princess Yue were still searching for Aang and Gohan in the snowstorm. They scanned the snowy area, but still found no sign of the Fire Princes or their friends. Katara seemed to grow more depressed as they searched through the harsh snowy weather. "Don't worry! Prince Zuko can't be getting too far in this weather," Yue assured the Waterbender.

"I'm not worried they'll get away in the blizzard. I'm worried that they won't," Katara admitted.

"They're not gonna die in this blizzard! If we know one thing, it's that Zuko and Trunks never give up!" said a determined Sokka, clearly putting his faith in the princes' tenacity. "They'll survive – and we'll find them!"

* * *

In his lair, Koh wrapped himself around Aang's body while the Avatar maintained his neutral expression. "It's been a long time since I've added a child's face to my collection," Koh stated as his face changed into one of an owl. "So... how may I help you?"

"I need to find the Moon and the Ocean," Aang replied.

"Their spirit names are Tui and La. Push... and Pull... and that has been the nature of their relationship for all time," the Face Stealer told the boy while circling him.

"Please, help me find them. An entire culture could be destroyed if I don't get their help," Aang pleaded while still showing no emotion or distress.

"Oh, you think you need their help? Actually, it's quite the other way around," Koh revealed as he loomed over Aang and his face shifted to an old man's face. He then charged at Aang with the face similar to that of the blue spirit's, complete with huge fangs and red eyes, and stopped inches away from his prey's face. "Someone's going to kill them!" Koh exclaimed, attempting to break Aang but to no avail.

Aang's only reaction was blinking before asking, "What do you mean? How can I find them and protect them?"

"You've already met them, actually," Koh revealed as his face shifted back to the clown one. "Tui and La, your Moon and Ocean, have always circled each other in an eternal dance." The giant centipede moved away from Aang and turned away from him as he continued to explain the spirits' identity. "They balance each other... push and pull... life and death... good and evil... yin... and yang."

The last statement made Aang's eyes grow wide. His mind was brought back to before he entered the spirit world, and he remembered the two black and white fish that swam around each other, forming the Yin and Yang symbol in the oasis pond. "The Koi fish!" he cried out while dropping his nonchalant expression to one of joy. Hearing Aang's joyful outburst, Koh zoomed toward the monk with his blue Ogre face again but was met with the Avatar's unemotional look. "I must be going now," Aang said before walking away.

"We'll meet again," Koh ensured as his face changed into a bald young man and he faded into the shadows.

Aang rushed out the Face Stealer's lair and looked into the water to speak to his past life/mentor. "Roku, the spirits are in trouble. I need to get back to the physical world," Aang told him.

"A friend is here to guide you back," Roku replied. The reflection of the past Avatar shifted into one of a black and white spirit that Aang immediately recognized. "Hei-Bai!" he greeted the forest spirit. The panda lowered himself and Aang climbed onto his neck; the two then made their way back to the physical world.

* * *

On Zhao's ship, Beat continued to keep watch over his old friend, who was still struggling to free herself from her bindings while banging against her cell. Just then, Commander Brute walked into the prison hold and addressed him. "We're about to enter the city; it seems our prisoner wasn't enough to get the Water Tribe to surrender peacefully."

"What are we supposed to do with her now?" Beat asked, showing a little worry.

Brody raised an eyebrow before answering, "Admiral Zhao's instructions were very clear: if the Water Tribe did not back down by the time we made it into their city and night had fallen, the prisoner would become invaluable to us, and I was given clearance to determine her fate." He turned to the door to leave, but stopped and looked back to Beat. "I'm wanted by the Admiral's side, so I'm authorizing you to deal with the prisoner."

"What do you mean by that?" Beat questioned.

Brody looked at him with an evil smirk. "Kill her!" He then left and shut the door.

Beat and Note both had looks of surprise and horror, but Beat quickly got over it and turned to face Note's cell door. "So that's it. After all the time we spent together as friends, you're just going to kill me like that meant nothing to you?" Note asked. Beat didn't answer as he unlocked the cell door and opened it. He grabbed Note and tossed her out of the cell onto the floor; she looked at him pleadingly while his expression seemed neutral. "Beat, remember what you told me! It doesn't matter if you're a member of the Fire Nation or that I'm a Water Tribe girl, we're still friends! You don't have to do this!" Beat gave no response as he brought his hand and formed the Ki blade.

"Beat, please!" she pleaded one last time as her friend raised his weaponized hand. Note closed her eyes as she waited for her swift execution. Beat closed his eyes as he seemed conflicted about what he was about to do; his eyes then shot open and he swung his Ki blade at his friend. Note opened her eyes and was surprised to find that she was still alive; in fact, she didn't feel anything from Beat's death strike. She checked herself and saw that her restraints were split in half, allowing her to move freely. She looked at Beat who put his Ki blade away and offered his hand to her. She took it and was pulled to her feet before she embraced her friend, who hugged her back. "Thank you," she said gratefully.

"You're right, we are still friends," Beat replied. "It doesn't matter where we're from or what people think." He smiled at her as he broke the embrace. "But, you should still get out of here and help your tribe."

"What about you?" she inquired worriedly. "Won't you get in trouble if they found out you didn't kill me?"

"If there's a punishment for allowing my friend from the Water Tribe to escape, I'll gladly face the consequences," Beat declared.

Note felt sad that her childhood friend would be punished for letting her go. She grabbed his hand and looked him in the eye. "Come with me," she suggested.

Beat was surprised at her offer but kept his posture. "As much as I'd like to, I can't. I'm still a Ki bender of the Fire Nation. I can't just join hands with other nations."

"Remember what you told me years ago, that we could go to a place in the Earth Kingdom where we don't have to be members of the Fire Nation or the Water Tribe. No one would judge us if they didn't know who we were. We can leave together," Note said.

"I don't know…" Beat replied with uncertainty.

Note moved a little closer to her friend as she held his hand tightly. "I don't care if the circumstances are different, you promised you'd come back to the North Pole and you have. This is our chance to leave and travel the world freely," Note pleaded. Beat gave no answer as he turned away from the female Ki bender. Note looked down in sadness as she released his hand; she gave a sad smile to Beat's head. "It's ok, I understand. You're not ready yet." She slowly walked away from him to the door. "Thanks for being my friend. I hope that never changes." Note exited the prison hold, leaving Beat to his thoughts.

* * *

In the North City, day had become night and the Fire Nation continued to attack the Northern Water Tribe. Most of their defensive walls had been penetrated and the fire tanks along with the army were storming the city, getting closer to the royal palace. Fireballs were still launched at the city, and citizens were fleeing for their lives as the fire tanks smashed through and threw fire at everything. The Waterbenders were in serious trouble when they looked up and saw the full moon in the night sky. Now at their peak, the Waterbenders began to counterattack the Fire army with their newfound strength.

A group of fire troops were crossing an ice bridge when a single Waterbender intercepted them and destroyed the bridge in order to push the enemies away. Another Waterbender sank a tank in the snow; it shot a fireball at him but he blocked it with the snow and threw a snow bullet at the turret, damaging it. A line of Waterbenders on the outer walls fired ice spears at the fire soldiers. Their attacks were blocked by the soldiers' shields, but at the same time, the soldiers were being pushed back by the ice shower.

Master Pakku was holding his own against the fire army; he froze eight soldiers before ducking a fire blast from a tank. Another army along with three tanks closed in on the old master, but Pakku demonstrated his superior skill by slicing off the wheels of the fire tanks with snow. The soldiers armed with spears surrounded him, so Pakku imprisoned them in ice. He then bended the snow to form a water vortex that hoisted him into the air, allowing him to dodge and block fire attacks while throwing water strikes simultaneously.

Three Waterbenders used the snow to toss a fire tank away; it landed in front of the Fire Admiral, who had appeared in the city along with his commander and a small battalion of Firebenders, all riding on Komodo Rhinos. The tank's impact caused a wave of snow to pile onto a Firebender on Zhao's right while some fell on Zhao's shoulder. The soaked Firebender used his heat to melt the snow while Zhao dusted himself off. "We'll be following this map to a very special location," Zhao explained as he held up a map before putting it away. "And when we get there...we're going fishing."

* * *

In Gohan's mind, the young boy struggled to pull himself up the cliff. He started rapidly climbing at first until his hand slipped and he fell back down. Piccolo only stared at his student's predicament. Down below, the abyss erupted and a burst of magma shot upward. Gohan eyes widened before he attempted to climb out again; his hand slipped again and he began to fall downward. He quickly grabbed the cliffside again and looked back up at his master. "Piccolo! Help me, please!" the boy cried.

"Only you can help yourself, kid," Piccolo replied.

The magma started to slowly rise toward the young fighter. He held onto the side of the canyon tightly so that he wouldn't fall. He grew more afraid as he glanced at the rising hot liquid. "I can't! I can't do this on my own! Please help!" Gohan begged again.

"Pathetic! Giving up already! You're even whinier than when I trained you," Piccolo stated as he and his clone turned away from the distressed child. "Why do you even fight at all?"

"Why do you keep asking me that?" Gohan questioned him. "I told you, my friends need my help. My brother needs my help!"

"What makes you think that your help is needed at all?" Piccolo asked.

"Because if I don't help, the Fire Nation will conquer the world!" Gohan replied.

"It's the Avatar's job to stop the Fire Nation, not yours!" Piccolo reminded him.

"Aang still needs my help! He can't do this alone; he's still just a kid!" Gohan argued.

"Ha! What help is one kid to another in this sort of crisis?!" Piccolo questioned, which made Gohan's eyes widen as he realized what his mentor was getting at. "How can you be any help to anyone if you always doubt yourself?" Suddenly, images of Trunks and Brody appeared beside the Demon King. "You expect things to be easy, but how can you accomplish anything if you don't give it your all?! You say you're fighting to support your friends, yet you doubt if you're actually helping! You calm to be defending the innocence, but you tend to hold back against your enemies! What is your goal, Gohan?! And what are you fighting for?!" Piccolo started to walk away from the cliff.

" _What am I supposed to do?"_ Gohan thought as he held tightly to the cliffside. Gohan looked down in shame and defeat; his mind suddenly recalled his father's words of encouragement when he met him. _"Gohan, you need to get stronger, stronger than you've ever dreamed. I know you can do it, because I believe in you."_ Gohan's grip on the canyon wall tightened. His face full of determination, he jumped up the wall and out of the canyon. Piccolo and his clone still had their backs turned as his protégé made it out of the abyss and knelt behind him. "I understand now," Gohan proclaimed. "I can't doubt myself anymore; I have to be strong. If I wish to help my friends, then I need to do everything I can. I have to use all the power I have!"

The Piccolos turned and faced Gohan while smirking. "You're starting to sound more like yourself now," Piccolo noted. "You were a true warrior; you always faced the challenges before you with bravery, and the drive to protect your loved ones has always helped you to get stronger. That will is still inside you, Gohan, you just have dig deep to reach it."

Gohan closed his eyes as he focused on the will he had to protect his friends. Gohan recalled more memories of his past life; one where he fought a one-eyed, flaming-haired man to save his dad, one where he fought some galactic tyrant, one where he plowed right through the chest of a giant blue monster, one where he battled a mutant grasshopper to save the world, one where he fought someone who looked like a bigger, more powerful version of Brody. He raised his head as he had the look of a true fighter on his face. "I must protect my friends no matter what it takes! My enemies may be stronger than me, but that will never stop me! I will continue to get stronger so that I can support my brother Aang and protect the world from any threats!" Gohan then stood up and took a fighting stance. "So get ready, Piccolo, 'cause now I won't hold back!"

Gohan charged at the Demon Kings with greater speed than before; he kicked both of them before either of them could react, forcing the two Piccolos to collide and mix back into one. Piccolo sat up and glared his pupil, but his form was different; he looked slightly older and was wearing a gi similar to his own. The Demon King got up and took his own fighting position. The two charged at each other and clashed; they traded multiple blows before Gohan jumped back to gain some distance. Piccolo stretched his arm and grabbed Gohan's face; he threw the boy into a large rock that shattered when Gohan collided with it. Gohan recovered and flew at his mentor, nailing him in the chest with a skull bash attack. Piccolo staggered a bit and started fired beams from his fingers at the boy. The Son of Goku swiftly dodged every finger beam and released a kiai that blew his teacher backward.

Piccolo started to split himself into many numbers before rushing at Gohan. Showing no fear, the boy began attacking each clone one by one, and every time he did, the replicas would dissipate into energy. Many of the duplicates started firing blasts at the boy, so Gohan countered by releasing an energy wave that blew the Ki blasts back at the clones, destroying them. He then jumped at the real Piccolo and kicked him in the head. Piccolo cringed before looking at his student who had taken his original form. Piccolo stretched his arms toward the young fighter, but Gohan swiftly grabbed his arms and tossed him upward. Piccolo stopped himself and retracted his arms. His student thrust his palm upward, creating an invisible force that struck Piccolo in the chin.

Gohan then jumped toward the Demon King, but Piccolo quickly recovered and fired a blast from his mouth that hit Gohan and sent him back to earth. Piccolo yelled, "Rapid Fire!" as he shot a volley of Ki blasts at his opponent. When he stopped, he descended to the ground, when Gohan suddenly burst out of the ground while emitting Ki throughout his whole body. He then fired the Ki in the form of a blast at his mentor; Piccolo dodged the attack and put his hands together. **"Masenko, Ha!"** Piccolo shouted as he fired the demon flash attack at his pupil. Gohan held up his hands as the blast came at him; the demon flash collided with Gohan's palms and he pushed against it. The blast eventually dissipated into a puff of smoke in Gohan's hands. "My turn." Gohan placed his hands above his head. **"Masenko…Ha!"** he cried as he poured Ki into his hands and fired the attack at his teacher.

Piccolo blocked the attack with a cross guard; when it ended, he lowered his arms and said, "You'll have to do better than that!" He suddenly noticed that Gohan wasn't where he last saw him. **"Ka…me…ha…me…"** A certain chant was heard from above. The green fighter looked up and saw the Son of Goku concentrating his energy into a single point in between his hands. **"Haaa!"** Gohan fired the turtle shock wave beam at his master; the attack consumed Piccolo completely. When Gohan was finished, he could see the Demon King lying on the ground, missing an arm. Gohan landed and slowly approached the Namekian before stopping at his feet. "Looks like I win," Gohan stated. Piccolo opened his eyes and smiled. "Looks like," he agreed, which made Gohan smile. However, he was unaware of something creeping behind him; the boy was suddenly nailed in the back with a Ki blast, courtesy of a Piccolo clone.

Gohan almost fell over but Piccolo quickly stood up and caught him as his clone disappeared. "You won the fight, but you let your guard down," Piccolo explained. "I know I warned you of that weakness." He let go of Gohan and the boy stood up. "You need to remember to stay alert, and never let your arrogance blind you in battle. Keep your guard up, don't hold back, and don't stop till the fight is truly over," the master advised his disciple.

"Yes, Piccolo," Gohan replied.

Piccolo smiled as he placed his hand on Gohan's shoulder. "You did well; there was no hesitation in attacks. You're starting be like your old self again," he praised his friend.

"You weren't using your full power, were you?" Gohan asked.

"Heh! Trust me, you're not ready to handle me at my best yet," Piccolo assured him. "Regardless, you defeated me, so you're free to go back and help your friends now. But before you leave, I want to give you something." Piccolo placed two fingers at Gohan's forehead. His fingers started to glow and the light spread to Gohan's body; when it died down, Gohan looked at himself curiously.

"What was that?" he inquired.

"Just passing some techniques I think will be useful in the future on to you," the Master answered. "Now, get going. You have a war to fight in, so don't you dare lose! Show the world that you're my student and Goku's son!" A light entrance suddenly appeared.

"I will! Thanks, Piccolo," Gohan said. He started to walk toward the exit before stopping to look back as his mentor. "Will I be able to see you again?" he asked.

"Whenever you need a teacher, Gohan, just call me, and I'll answer," Piccolo replied while smiling proudly. Gohan nodded to him and stepped through the exit. "Don't let us down, Gohan, because we believe in you," Piccolo said before he disappeared.

* * *

Back in the Spirit World, Aang and Hei-Bai rode all the way back to the spiritual paifang that Aang came through. "This is where I came in. But how do I get back?" Aang asked as he jumped off the black and white spirit. The Panda stood up and let out a thin beam of spiritual energy from his mouth; it hit Aang and the confused monk was consumed by the light before disappearing. "Good riddance," the spirit monkey from earlier remarked. Hei-Bai didn't take that lightly as he changed into his monstrous form and roared at the monkey, blowing him away before changing back to panda.

Aang appeared in the physical world at the oasis, but not the way he left. The Airbender immediately shouted, "Momo!" when he saw his lemur friend sleeping in front of the pond. Momo didn't wake up, so Aang called him again. "Momo?" As he tried to touch Momo, he saw that his hands were transparent and realized that he was still a spirit. "Oh no! Where's my body?" He looked around before he was unexpectedly engulfed in a blue sphere of light that started to fly him high above the oasis and into the snowstorm. His friends were still searching aimlessly when Katara spotted the moving light and pointed at it. "Look! That's gotta be Aang! Yip, yip!" Sokka steered the bison to follow the light of their friend. The light flew into the small cave and entered Aang's body. The light from his tattoos died down and he opened his eyes just as Gohan started to regain consciousness. They were both surprised to find themselves restrained.

"Aang?" Gohan asked.

"Gohan?" Aang asked. The two struggled against their bindings when they sensed they weren't alone. They both sat up and saw the Fire Princes standing before them.

"Welcome back," Zuko greeted them.

"Good to be back," Aang replied. Both boys took a deep breath and released a lung punch attack that blasted Trunks and Zuko into the cave wall while also blowing them out of the cave. Gohan grabbed Aang's shirt with his teeth and tried to fly away with him, but his ascent was slow due to his unbalance, allowing the princes to catch up and grab them.

"That won't be enough to escape!" Zuko said.

"We've got company!" Trunks alerted his friend while looking up.

Appa soon flew over their heads. "Appa!" Aang exclaimed with joy. The Sky bison landed on the ground and Katara quickly jumped off. "Perfect timing, guys," Gohan stated in relief. The Princes tossed their prisoners aside and took their fighting stances. "Here for a rematch?" Zuko asked Katara.

"Trust me, Zuko, it's not going to be much of a match," Katara assured as she blocked a fire blast with snow. She then used her Waterbending to hoist both princes into the air with an ice pillar before bringing them down hard. Zuko fell unconscious after the attack but Trunks stood back up.

"You won't beat me that easily!" Trunks declared before firing a Ki blast at the Waterbender. Katara quickly blocked it with an ice shield; Trunks prepared to attack again but stopped when he sensed something. He looked to his right to see Gohan channeling energy in order to break the energy rings restraining him. The bindings eventually burst apart, allowing Gohan quickly jump and kick Trunks in the head, knocking him out.

Sokka went over to Aang and cut his hands free. "Hey, this is some quality rope!" the Tribesman commented.

"We need to get to the oasis; the spirits are in trouble!" Aang warned them as he removed the rope around his legs. Aang, Katara, and Sokka got onboard Appa and prepared to fly away when they noticed Gohan picking up Trunks and Zuko. "What are you doing, Gohan?" Katara inquired.

"We can't just leave them here," Gohan answered.

"Uh, sure we can. Let's go!" Sokka argued.

"No, Gohan's right. If we leave them, they'll die," Aang agreed with his brother.

The Ki bender carried the Princes with him to the bison and jumped onto the saddle. "Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. Let's bring the guys who're constantly trying to kill us!" Sokka stated sarcastically. Appa then took off and headed back to the oasis.

* * *

In the oasis pond, the Moon and Ocean spirits were still swimming around each other when a hand suddenly grabbed the Moon spirit and placed it in a small brown bag. Admiral Zhao held up the captured fish and smirked as the full moon instantly turned blood red. The entire city was soon covered with the lighting of the new moon. As the North City began to darken, the strength of the Waterbenders started to diminish. Master Pakku's water vortex was cancelled out, another Waterbender was incapable of performing the Water whip, and the wave of water being used by a trio of Waterbenders to hold back a komodo rhino stopped bending to their will; all as a result of this new lunar eclipse.

The Waterbender begin retreat as the Fire nation advance once again. A line of Firebenders storm the city while letting out volleys of fire blasts. The Gang flew past the blood towards the oasis. "This is bad, all of the Waterbenders energies have decreased dramatically!" Gohan stated. Yue suddenly groans and holds her head in pain.

"Are you okay?" Sokka asked her.

"I feel faint." She replies.

"I feel it too." Aang says as he touches his head and looks up at the moon. "The moon spirit is in trouble."

"I owe the Moon Spirit my life." Yue starts to say.

"What do you mean?"Sokka asked.

"When I was born I was very sick and very weak." the Princess explains her past. "Most babies cry when they're born...

 _Flashback-_ _Baby Yue is wrapped in a clothe as she's resting on a table, completely asleep and unaware of the world around her._ "...but I was born as if I were asleep. My eyes closed." _Many Water healers including, Yugoda, are surrounding the future princess of their tribe trying to heal her, but their healing abilities are ineffective. Yugoda goes over to Chief Arnook and his wife to tell them the baby's condition._ "Our healers did everything they could. They told my mother and father I was going to die." _After hearing that his daughter would die, the Chief stood at the citadel window and prays to the full moon, hoping the moon spirit will hear him._ "My father pleaded with the spirits to save me... that night, beneath the full moon, he brought me to the oasis and placed me in the pond." _Yue's parents take her to the same oasis she took the Gang too and her father put her into the pond. Her black heir changes to white, her eyes open and she starts crying. Her parents are thankful to the moon spirit._ "My dark hair turned white, I opened my eyes and began to cry – and they knew I would live." _Flashback ends._

"That's why my mother named me Yue, for the moon." Yue finishes her story.

At the oasis, Admiral Zhao, Commander Brute and four Firebender are there and the Fire Admiral begins to bask in glory. "I am now... a legend!" Zhao begins to exalt himself while holding the captured spirit higher. "The Fire Nation will for generations tell stories about the great Zhao who darkened the moon! They will call me Zhao the Conqueror! Zhao the Moon Slayer! ZHAO THE INVINCIBLE!" His boasting is interrupted by Momo jumping onto his head and playing with his face. "Get it off!" Zhao orders as Momo pulls on his sideburns. The Firebenders try to help their leader, but Momo flies away and lands on Aang's arm. The Fire soldiers prepare to fight as does the Gang. "Don't bother!" Zhao says as he aims his right fist at the bagged fish.

Aang quickly drops his staff and holds up his hands in surrender. "Zhao, don't!" he pleads.

"It's my destiny... to destroy the Moon... and the Water Tribe." Zhao sates.

"Destroying the moon won't just hurt the Water Tribe. It will hurt everyone – including you." Aang tells the Admiral. "Without the moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world."

"He is right Zhao." a voice declares. Everyone looks towards the one who spoke, which turns out to be the Dragon of the West.

"General Iroh, why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?" Zhao asked with boredom.

"I'm no traitor Zhao, the Fire Nation needs the moon too. We all depend on the balance." Iroh lectures him. Zhao still holds firm and the Fire Lord's brother jabs a finger at him. "Whatever you do to that spirit I'll unleash on you ten-fold!" Iroh threatens him before taking a firebending stance. "LET IT GO, NOW!"

Admiral Zhao seems conflicted about what to do; he then closes his eyes before instantly reopening them. He looks to his commander who nods to him. Zhao suddenly turns back to his enemies smirking, and sets the bag holding the moon spirit on fire. "You want it, here." Zhao says as he lightly tosses the bag to the pond. Before anyone could react, a green energy blast hit the bag and explodes. Everyone recoils in horror as the moon spirit falls to the pond. Aside from a large wound, its body id still intact; however, the fish itself lays in the water, lifeless. The Gang looks up as the moonlight fades to gray; the full moon disappears from the sky completely.

"The Northern Water Tribe has fallen." Brody declares while smirking evilly.

General Iroh pounces at the two by unleashing a barrage of fireballs at them; Brody back flips away while Zhao deflects the onslaught. The four Firebenders attempt to fight Iroh, but the old master easily decimates them. Zhao watches Iroh best his men in fear before running away. Iroh defeats the last Fire guard and sees that the Fire Admiral and the Commander have fled.

* * *

Gohan senses Brody retreating into the city and quickly flies after him in rage. The Fire Commander runs through the city before he senses Gohan chasing after him. The two Ki benders eventually stop and land in the town square; they stare at each other as they prepared to fight. "Once again you've come to face me Gohan, and this you're alone without any magic sword to help you." Brody taunts the boy.

"Why would you do this?! Do you have any idea what you've and Zhao have done?!" Gohan asked in anger.

"We made sure the Water Tribe will not survive this battle." Brody. "Now the Fire Nation is one step closer to conquering the world."

"I won't let you get away with this!" Gohan cried.

"Ha! You're no match for me kid!" Brody states.

"Wanna bet?!Haaa!" Gohan yells as he releases his Ki. Hi body is soon surrounded by a massive white aura as he glares at his enemy. The force of his energy creates a strong wind that cracks the ice building around them; Brody just smirked as he withstood the wind with no trouble.

"Not bad kid. You've certainly gotten a lot stronger since the last time we fought." Brody praised him. "Too bad your power is still nowhere close to mine. But I'll tell you what, I'll give you a handicap."

"A what?" Gohan asked.

"I'll let you have the first strike. I leave myself wide open and you can hit me anywhere, I won't even try to defend myself." Brody explained as he spread his arms out.

Gohan seem to grow angrier as his foe show no sign of seriousness or fear. "Don't mock me! I could never attack an opponent who hasn't braced himself for battle!" Gohan declared.

"Heh! How noble, although it would seem like I'm mocking you and a part of me probably is, I'm actually giving you a free shot." Brody assured. "Cause once you've hit me with everything you've got, I'll strike back with unrelenting force. So you might want to strike now before I change my mind, you don't know whether your attacks with defeat me or not. Now, quit you're stalling and attack me!"

With a mighty battle cry, Gohan flew at Commander Brute with great speed; He kicks Brody right in the face. The commander staggers and Gohan begins rapidly punching him in the gut. Gohan continues his assault by hitting Brody with multiple blows before blasting him into a building. He the flies above the ice home and cries **"** **Gekiretsu Madan** **!** " as he starts firing multiple blasts at his opponent. Gohan pauses and starts to form and energy ball in between his hands. He takes a few minutes to pour a lot of Ki into the attack while condensing it at the same time. **"Masendan…Ha!"** Gohan shouts as he tossed his final energyblasts at the Fire Commander. The blasts hit the target and explode. The eruption shines in a red light as Gohan glares at where his enemy should be.

When the light died down, Gohan started breathing heavily as he descended towards the ground. He sees Commander Brute lying on the ground in a snow crater with his eyes closed. The commander suddenly starts laughing as he slowly rises to his feet. Gohan glared at his foe, who looked at him while smirking. His body looked unharmed as if the attacks Gohan hit him with were nothing. "Is that all the power you have?" Brody muttered. "What a letdown." The Commander slowly walks towards Gohan; the boy steps back in fear. The boy then felt an intense pain in his stomach when Brody sped in front of him and punched him. Gohan grasped his gut as his jaw was hanging open, letting out a mixture of blood and spit. "Don't tell me that seriously hurt, I merely gave you a love tap." Brody said before he kicked Gohan away.

Gohan slid across the icy floor on his back; he then stopped and slowly stood, wiping the blood from his mouth. He retook his fighting position which made Brody smirk. "Good, you're still on your feet for more, but I wonder how long it'll take for me kill you." He stated.

"Why don't you come here and find out!" Gohan challenged him while powering up again. Brody did the same and their energies began to clash; the Fire Commander grinned wickedly before rushing at his younger for, who braced himself.

* * *

At the oasis, everyone was still in shock at the death of the moon spirit. After Gohan left, they could hear the sounds of explosions in the city. "Gohan," muttered Aang before he and the others go over to the pond; the ocean spirit is swimming around its dead companion. General Iroh picks up the fallen spirit and looks at it in sorrow. "There's no hope now. It's over." Yue mourns.

Aang's eyes and tattoos suddenly start glowing. "No, it is not over." He declares. The Avatar steps into the pond and begins some sort of prayer. The others watch as the Avatar stands in the pond, motionless. Aang stands in the center of the water and the ocean spirit circles around him; eventually its eyes and white mark start to glow likes Aang and the light shines throughout the pond. Aang suddenly sinks into the pond, the water in the pond starts to glow blue veined with white. The light from the spiritual water spreads all the way to the palace; the pond water begins to rise and when it stops, it takes the form of a giant Koi fish like being with the Avatar in the center of the being. Aang raises his arms and the Ocean spirit does the same, now one with the Avatar.

The two make their way into the city; everyone can see the Ocean spirit as it moves. It stops and looks down at Master Pakku and his Waterbenders who were fighting with a group of Fire soldiers. The old master and his followers bow humbly to their savior while the soldiers raise their spears at it. One sweep of the Ocean spirit's hand and the Fire soldiers are washed away by the water. Aang swings his arms around, using the Ocean spirit's power to create a torrent that takes out more of Zhao's men. Fire tanks begin to counterattack by launching fireballs at the Ocean spirit, but its liquid body easily douses the flames and it hand washes them away like insects. The Ocean spirit continues to wander the city and more Water Tribe citizens bow to it respectfully. The Fire Nation invaders begin to retreat; the Ocean spirit the third inner wall and melts into water, chasing after its enemies.

* * *

With Gohan, the boy is being thrash around by the Fire commander. Brody looks to be bored while Gohan is tossed into an ice wall. The son of Goku stands and charges at his opponent; He throws as many punches and kicks as he can but Brody easily evaded his strikes and kicked him away. Gohan lands on the ground and is hit with an energy blast before he can get up again. When the smoke clears, Gohan is seen in an energy shield that he managed to put up at the last second; it dissolves as Gohan gets on his feet. This seems to make Brody smirk in amusement. "Heh! You just don't know when to give up, do you?" Brody asked as he sped towards Gohan and punched his right cheek. "No matter who stands in your way, you're always willing to fight for what's right! To be the hero, to save the day, to help innocent and weak!"

Commander Brute hand chops Gohan's face, causing him to fall to him knees in pain. "Just like you're father!" He exclaims before kicking Gohan again.

Gohan looks at him with wide eyes as he asked "H-How do you know my father?"

"Oh believe me Gohan, my father hasn't forgotten about your father! Or you!" Brody assured. He grabbed Gohan by the neck and picked him up to look him in the eye. "Just like your old man, you're just always ready to face the next challenge even if it's bigger than you, figuratively and literally!" He skull bashed Gohan's forehead and the boy cries in pain. "Even in a new world with a new life, you're still as annoying as ever. You and your father along with your little friends took my father and in the end, your father defeated him and nearly killed him!" Brody throws Gohan into another ice wall before slowly approaching him. "But he survived! And when he wanted revenge, your father was nowhere to be found, dead already! So who goes to fight my Dad in his place, the mighty son of Kakarot! Goku's legacy, you!" He stopped a few feet away from the son of Goku. "And with the help of your family, you ended my father's life permanently!"

Gohan slowly stood up as he grasped his right arm while breathing deeply. Brody glared at the young fighter as he continued to talk "You'd think being reborn in this new world, he wouldn't remember his humiliating defeat, right?! Well he did! Because when he died and was reborn, had multiple visions of his demise over and over again!"

" _It's just like the visions I have of the other lives I lived."_ Gohan thought. "I'm sorry that your father couldn't get over his defeat, I'm not I fully understand why he hates us so much! But I can't let you get away with what you've done!" He declared.

"Oh? And what are you gonna do? Stop me?" Brody mocked the boy. "You're no match for me kid, and you along with all of your loved ones will suffer, I'll make sure of that!"

"No! I won't give up! I'll never stop fighting!" Gohan yelled. He jumped at Brody and tried to punch him; the commander dodged him, kneed him in the abdomen before punching him in the kisser and back into the ice wall.

"You're done! So now it's time to end this and avenge my father's pain!" Brody said. He aimed his hand at Gohan and fired a green blast at the boy. Another blast came out of nowhere and collided with Brody's attack, detonating it before it could hit Gohan. The Ki benders looked to where the blast came from and spotted two Ki benders in the air; Beat and Note. "Looks like more weaklings have come to die!" Brody growled.

"Note! And Beat?" Gohan exclaimed in confusion.

"Gohan, are you okay?" Note asked after landing by his side.

"Well, I'm still alive thanks to you." Gohan replied.

"How pathetic, can't survive without your friends to hold your hand." Brody muttered. He then looked at Beat who had landed in front of Note and Gohan. "Beat! Why is the prisoner still alive?! If you don't want to face punishment, you'd better kill both her and Gohan right now!"

"No." Beat said back.

"I'm sorry, what was that?!" Brody asked as he took a step forward.

"I said No!" Beat repeated himself. "I'm done with the Fire Nation! I no longer wish to return the compassion and kindness I was given by others with violence. I will not let the Fire Nation, its people, or even this war, make my hurt those who are my friends!" He took a fighting position and glared at Beat. "I won't let you hurt my friends any longer!"

"Are these friends really so important to you that you'll will to turn against the Fire Nation?" Brody asked.

Beat looked back at Gohan and Note; he closed his eyes and smiled. "Yes, they are!" he answered.

"Then you can die with them!"Brody roared. He fired green Ki blast at the traitor; Note quickly got in front of Beat and swatted it away. "Someone's in a hurry to die! But like they say, ladies first!" Before he could attack though, Gohan charged at him and hit him in the chest with his head. "You scum, still got some fight left in you?!"

"That's right!" said Gohan as Beat stood on his left and Note stood on his right. "And you're going to kill any of us, cause if the three of us fight together, we'll prove too much even for you to handle!"

"You think 3 on o1 will do you any good?! Do you truly believe you have enough power to beat me?" Brody laughed.

"Yes!" the three fighters answered as they revved up their energies. Brody fired a green energy attack at his opponents; they quickly dodged by jumping into the air. They then flew at Commander Brute attempting to attack him at three different sides simultaneously. Note got to him first but was elbow bashed away before she could strike, Beat tried to kick him but dodged and was punched, Gohan swung his fist at him but Brody blocked it before kicking Gohan in the chin. Note came at him again and tried kicking Brody numerous times; he swiftly avoided all her attacks before grabbing her leg, throwing her into her friend, and nailing them both with a Ki blast.

"Leave them alone!" Gohan cried as he flew at Brody. He channeled Ki into his right fist and swung it at Brody's face; the force of his punch created a shockwave that dug a large crater in the snow. Brody simply looked at the boy, whose fist was still planted in his cheek.

"Was that supposed to hurt?" he asked. Gohan slowly removed his fist as he stared at Brody in horror. Brody smiled evilly as he charged an energy blast and threw it at Gohan. The son of Kakarot was propelled into another ice home that crumbled and collapsed onto him after he crashed into it.

"Gohan, no!" Note cried. She sped toward the Fire Commander and threw multiple blasts at him before stopping to charge a Kamehameha wave. Unfortunately, Brody's hand shot out from the smoke and grabbed the female Ki bender by the neck before she could finish her attack. Note struggled against his iron grip but it was useless. "You won't get away with what you've done to my people!" she managed to choke out.

"I already have," Brody replied. The Fire Commander leveled his hand at her stomach as he formed a green Ki blast in his palm. Note's eyes grew wide with fear as the blast began to expand to the point where the heat was burning against her clothes.

"Let her go, now!" Beat ordered as flew at the commander while forming a Ki blade around his hand. He swung at Brody, who titled his head to avoid the slash. This allowed Note to kick herself free from his grasp and the two backed away from the enemy. Commander Brute looked at his right cheek, where a small cut had appeared and blood started to leak out. His eyes focused on his opponents as he straightened his neck before slowly walking toward them. Beat stood in front of Note defensively and declared, "Stay back, Note, while I cut this guy to pieces!" He rushed at Brody and swung his energy weapon at him again, but the commander easily dodged his attack. Beat continued to slash at Brody, who swiftly dodged every strike before grabbing the Ki blade with his bare hand.

"Playing with this kind of weapon is dangerous; someone might get hurt!" Brody mocked Beat.

"Yeah! Like you!" Note cried as jumped above Brody and came down on him with her own energy blade. Acting quickly, Brody brought up Beat's blade to block Note's assault. The two jumped back before swinging at Brody simultaneously. The Fire Commander dodged every attack they threw at him; he eventually got bored and grabbed both their Ki blades with his hands. The boy and girl struggled to remove their blades from Brody's hand, but his held on with no problem.

"How cute, the Water Tribe Prisoner and the Fire Nation traitor have forma special bond." Brody taunted before his face shifted into a frown. "Its thing like this that make me sick! Traitors and enemies getting all buddy – buddy, how repugnant!"

"Sounds to me like someone's just jealous that he doesn't have any friends!" Noted commented.

"Ha! Who needs friends when you've got power?!" Brody asked. "That's what makes me one of the strongest!"

"You're wrong! Having power is one thing, but having people who care about you and are willing to lend you their strength is another!" Beat said. "True power is not something you can attain on your own; it's those who are ready to fight with no matter what that determines how much power you can have!"

"THAT'S AN ARGUMENT ONLY A WEAKLING AND A LOSER WOULD MAKE!" Brody scream as he slammed Beat and Note together by their Ki blades. Their head were bashed together before the two of them were tossed away. Brody proceeded by firing a Ki blast but the two countered with their own combined energy blast that canceled his out. Brody was about to attack them again when he sensed something from behind him; Gohan arose out of the ice pile and with his hands above his head. **"Masenko…ha!"** Gohan shouted as he shot his signature attack at his foe. Brody simply dodged, but that didn't discourage the son of Goku. **"One more, Ha!"** Gohan fired another demon flash blast at Brody who dodged it again.

"That's it, you're best shot?!" Brody asked. His question was answered when he noticed Gohan flying at him head first; Gohan skull bashed Brody in the nose before backing away. Brody glared at the boy as blood slid down his nose; he wiped it away and put on a smirk of anticipation. "Not bad kid! Gotta admit, that attack was slightly effective!" Brody stated.

"Thanks, but I'm not the only one with a thick skull! Didn't expect to feel my own attack as well!" Gohan replied.

"You have such potential and yet you use it to resist the strongest nation in the world! You'll just end up dead without reaching your full potential; although you wouldn't be as strong as me, the Fire Nation could help you attain ultimate power!" Brody said.

"Sorry, but I'm not interested in letting the Fire Nation conquer the world just to gain power!" Gohan answered. "So thanks for the offer, but no thanks!"

"Then you're only just delaying the inevitable! Why do you continue to fight back when you have no chance of winning?!" Brody asked.

"What can I say? It runs in the family!" Gohan declared.

"Guess that's something I'll see in your blood when it's spilling out of your body!" Brody roared as he rushed at Gohan. The younger fighter braced himself as his opponent got closer to him. Brody threw multiple punches at Gohan; he blocked all of them before jumping onto Brody's head and using him as a springboard to push himself toward his allies.

"Are you guys okay?" he asked them.

"Been better, but yeah," Beat replied.

"Can you still fight?" Gohan questioned.

"Sure, but unless someone has a plan, I don't think we'll last much longer," Note remarked.

"Then I guess it's a good thing I have a plan," Gohan announced. Beat and Note looked at their teacher, intrigued as the Fire Commander started to slowly walk toward them. "I've got this new technique that should be able to take him out. Only problem is, this is the first time I'm using it in battle and it takes some time to charge, so I need you guys to hold him off long enough for me to get it ready."

"You want us to take on Brody by ourselves?!" Note asked.

"I know it's a long shot, but it should be enough to defeat him," Gohan assured. "You guys just have to hold him off for two minutes."

"We won't even last two seconds!" Note argued.

"I'll do it," Beat said. Gohan and Note looked at him as he stood up. "I'll give you the time you need, Gohan." Beat walked forward and stopped in front of his comrades as Brody moved closer. "Note, you stay here and guard Gohan in case Brody gets past me."

"Are you insane?! You can't take that guy by yourself!" Note yelled.

"Not much choice, is there? If I don't do this, he'll kill us and continue aiding the Fire Nation in this war! Taking him out is the first step to weakening the Fire Nation's power!" Beat stated.

"But it's suicide! Why do you have to do this?!" she asked.

"Because it's what my father would want, for me to fight for my friends rather than to take revenge!" Beat answered. He then took a fighting stance before rushing at Brody.

The Fire Commander smirked as he saw Beat coming at him. "You've got some serious guts for a traitor." Beat threw a punch at Brody; he easily blocked it with his arm. "But it's gonna take more than that to beat me!" Beat resumed his onslaught by throwing multiple blows at his enemy. While this was happening, Gohan placed two fingers to his forehead and began focusing Ki into the tips. Brody blocked all of Beat's attacks and countered with his own each time, but the traitor endured and fought back. Note watched anxiously as she saw her friend forge on through Brody's pummeling with his willpower. Gohan looked at her while still preparing his attack. "Go help him, Note," he told her.

"But what about you?" she inquired.

"I'll be fine as long as Brody's distracted. Besides, Beat won't last much longer on his own," Gohan said. "You'd better get in there now; he has a better chance of survival if you're there with him."

"Right!" Note agreed before charging into battle. She punched Brody in the face before any fighter could react.

"I told you to stay back!" Beat yelled.

"Please, like I was actually gonna leave to face this guy alone!" Note argued.

"You're so stubborn," Beat sighed.

"Takes one to know one!" Note countered.

The two Ki benders flew at Brody; the Commander grinned wickedly as they came at him and started attacking. Even with their two on one assault, Beat and Note weren't having any luck at taking down Brody. Eventually they managed to double gut punch the Commander, but he barely flinched from their combined attack. The two then backed away and cupped their hands together. **"Kamehameha!"** they cried as they fired a blue beam at their enemy. Brody just crossed his arms and blocked the attack. After that, he charged at both of them and smashed them into an ice wall with his thick arms. "Nice attempt, that attack actually stung a bit," Brody commended them as he prepared a Ki blast. "But now it's time for you to die!"

"I don't think so! **Special Beam Cannon!** " Gohan shouted as he shot his two fingers forward and fired a spiral beam at Brody's back. The Commander slowly turned around to see the attack flying at him. After the blast hit, an explosion of snow blinded Gohan, Beat, and Note. When they could see clearly again, they were shocked to see Commander Brute still standing there; the only difference was that the right side of his armor was torn, his chest plate was cracked, and blood was leaking from his right shoulder. (A/N: Just think of the condition Raditz was in after he dodged the Special Beam Cannon.) Brody stood there glaring at the son of Goku who trembling with fear. _"He-He dodged the attack? But how did he move so fast?"_ Gohan thought.

"Well, I'm impressed. You managed to scratch me. I thought only my father could do that," Brody said as his Ki started to increase. "Now you will all pay!" He let out a huge energy wave that blew the three Ki benders away. When it died down, they were lying on the ground in pain, struggling to get up. "Still alive, huh? I'll fix that, starting with the traitor." He turned toward Beat, who was on his knees, and leveled his hand at him. "Traitors need to be taught a lesson; no one in the Fire Nation tolerates traitors and I intend to make an example out of you for anyone thinking of doing the same thing!" His hand started to glow with energy as Brody grinned. "Goodbye Beat!" The blast was fired at the traitor. Beat closed his eyes as he awaited his demise, but it never came, because another Ki blast intercepted Brody's and pushed it away from the boy. "What?!" Brody asked as his attack exploded somewhere else. Everyone looked up to see who stopped Brody's blast; they were surprised to see a certain lavender-haired prince standing on an ice bridge with his hand stretched out. "I should've known, only another pathetic runt would be stupid enough to interfere," Brody growled.

"Who's that?" Note asked.

"Prince Trunks!" Gohan and Beat said at the same time.

The Fire Prince jumped down to the battlefield. His intimidating scowl was directed at the Fire Commander. Brody noticed the angry look that Trunks was giving him but was by no means threatened by it. "What are you doing here, pretty boy? Come to help the traitor and his friends? How pitiful," Brody said.

"That's not why I'm here," Trunks replied. "I'm here to get back at you for what you and your admiral did to me and Zuko."

"Oh? And what exactly did we do to you?" Brody questioned.

"Don't play dumb! You and Zhao hired those pirates to kill us, and you almost succeeded! Just to get us out of the way!" Trunks yelled.

"I'm not the one who hired those low lives, Zhao did! I would've personally killed you both myself!" Brody said. "I guess I can just do that now. Since no one knows you're alive yet, I'd better make sure no one finds out!"

"Not if I beat you first, and that's just what I'm going to do!" Trunks declared.

"Hah! I'd like to see you try! You'll just end up on the ground like these insects!" Brody mocked him.

Trunks clenched his fist as he started channeling his energy. A blue fiery aura surrounded the prince's body as the ice he was standing on cracked. Trunks gave a mighty yell and rushed at Brody, punching him right in the stomach. He didn't give Brody time to recover from the attack before proceeding by kicking him in the head. Brody slid across the ground; Trunks then elbow bashed his chest before stepping back. Brody got up and charged at Trunks, only to stop when he saw Trunks pouring Ki into his hands. The prince put his hands together and aimed them at the Commander. **"Final Flash!"** Trunks shouted as he launched a golden beam of energy at his foe. The blast hit Brody straight on and consumed him in a giant fiery erosion. The other Ki benders shielded their eyes from the fireworks. "See you in the spirit world, Brody!" Trunks yelled as channeled more Ki into his attack. The light show continued before Trunks finally stopped to catch his breath. When the smoke cleared, everyone was surprised to see Brody was still standing in the same spot, barely fazed by Trunks attack.

"I don't believe it, that didn't even faze him!" Gohan said.

"Just how strong is this guy?!" Beat asked.

"This guy's a monster; we're barely doing any damage to him," Note stated.

Trunks gritted his teeth as he glared at his enemy. _"Blast it! I knew he would be stronger, but I didn't think the gap between us would be so large!"_ he thought. Brody flexed his neck and spat out some blood. He slowly started walking toward the lavender-haired teen; Trunks' knees started to shake as the Fire Commander approached him. Brody then stopped and pointed a finger gun at Trunks. "Bang!" he said before firing a Ki bullet at the prince. Trunks quickly evaded it, but this left him open to Brody's next attack; the commander rushed at Trunks with his fist ready. Trunks managed to block it with his arms but was pushed back. Brody then fired a green energy blast at his enemy, which Trunks quickly jumped to avoid. Brody fired a second energy blast that Trunks swatted away. Brody jumped at Trunks, stopping above him with his hands clamped together.

"Where did all your power and confidence go?! Don't tell me that last attack was your best shot!" Brody cried. He brought his hands down to hit Trunks; the prince deflected his attack with an energy blast and the two started trading blows.

* * *

Elsewhere, Admiral Zhao was running through the city, trying to escape. He made it to a foot bridge before a fireball intercepted his path. He looked back to identify his attacker; the last person he expected to see was the son of Ozai. "You're alive?" he asked incredulously.

"You tried to have us killed!" Zuko shouted at the Admiral. He launched fire attacks at Zhao but he quickly rolled away to evade.

"Yes, I did," Zhao confessed. "You're the Blue Spirit and Trunks is the Red Spirit– you're both enemies of the Fire Nation! You freed the Avatar!" Zuko stepped through the smoke and took a fighting stance. The two seemed unaware of the Ocean Spirit chasing the Fire Nation army out of the city or the battle between the Ki benders going on in the square.

"We had no choice," Zuko replied before attacking again. Zhao easily deflected the fireballs but they managed to wreck his cloak.

"You should have chosen to accept your failure," Zhao said as he dropped his cloak. "You're a disgrace! Then, at least you could have lived!" The Admiral counterattacked by launching two fireballs at the prince. Zuko jumped over both and threw his own fire at Zhao, who dodged and the two traded volleys of fire. Zhao eventually left himself open and Zuko struck him; the older Firebender fell off the bridge and his rival jumped after him.

* * *

Back at the Oasis, General Iroh placed the Koi fish back in the pond, but it just floated there lifelessly. "It's too late. It's dead," Katara said. The four stared at the pond in depression from the death of the moon spirit. In their mourning, Iroh glanced at Princess Yue and noticed something about her.

"You have been touched by the Moon Spirit. Some of its life is in you!" Iroh stated.

Yue looked at him as she realized what he meant. "Yes, you're right. It gave me life. Maybe I can give it back." She started to approach the Koi fish but Sokka quickly grabbed her hand.

"No! You don't have to do that!" the Tribesman argued.

"It's my duty, Sokka," she told him without looking.

"I won't let you! Your father told me to protect you!" Sokka said as he squeezed her hand.

"I have to do this," she insisted. Yue removed her hand from his and went over to the deceased Moon Spirit, once again in Iroh's hands. The Water Tribe princess placed her hands on the fish; its body started to glow. Yue closed her eyes and exhaled before falling backward.

"No!" Sokka cried as he caught Yue. He felt her cheek and his expression turned sad. "She's gone. She's gone," he said sadly as he hugged Yue's body.

* * *

Outside the city, all of the Fire Navy troops got on their ships and began to sail away from the Water Tribe. The Ocean Spirit appeared and rose back to its monstrous form. It loomed over some boats and used its arms to push four of those boats away. The ships were repelled with great force and crashed against each other. Aang moved the Spirit toward another ship; it shot a fireball at him but he blocked it with the spirit's arm and sliced the top part of the ship off. The Spirit proceeded to cut up more of the Fire Nation's catapults.

The Ocean Spirit raised its arms and created a huge wave under the battleships. The wave carried the Fire Ships away from the outer wall of the city and into the open sea. The Ocean Spirit followed after the enemy ships and prepared to wipe them out.

* * *

Meanwhile, Trunks was still duking it out with Commander Brute. The prince wasn't having much luck as Brody was blocking his attacks and hitting him with multiple strikes. The other Ki benders watched as Trunks was being overtaken by the Commander. Gohan slowly started to get up, which confused his students. "Gohan, what are you doing?" Note inquired.

"I didn't come here just to watch someone else take on Brody! Plus, Trunks can't win this on his own!" Gohan answered. "You guys should probably get out of here while you can; I intend to finish this fight!"

"No way am I leaving you!" Note said as she stood.

"Me neither! We're finishing this fight together!" Beat agreed as he also stood.

Gohan nodded and the three raised their energies. Brody had smashed Trunks on the ground and was about to punch him when he was kicked away by Gohan. Beat attacked second by elbow bashing Brody's head. Note finished the attack by punching him in the gut, pushing him back further. Trunks looked at the other Energybenders in astonishment before getting up himself. He flared his own Ki as he looked toward Gohan. "So, the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" he asked the son of Goku.

"Yeah, that's it," Gohan replied.

"Don't think this changes anything. My mission is still the same," Trunks warned him.

"Fine, but we'll worry about that after we take care of him!" Gohan said.

The four Ki benders then spread out and surrounded Brody. He looked at them in confusion as they prepared to attack him head-on. "You bugs just don't know when to quit and run, do you?" Brody stated. "And that just makes it easier to squash you!" Gohan and Trunks charged at Brody and tried to hit him with numerous attacks, but Brody easily diverted their attacks before punching them both in the face and grabbing them by their necks. Beat and Note attacked him with a double Ki blast but he merely shrugged it off. He then slammed the boys in his hands together before tossing them away. Beat and Note attacked with more Ki blasts but Brody jumped up to avoid them and fired two at them. The blasts knocked the two of them to the ground when Gohan and Trunks quickly emerged and attacked Brody again.

Brody only smirked as he kicked Gohan away and punched Trunks' face. Trunks quickly recovered and fired a blast at Brody; the commander deflected the blast and fired his own blast at the prince, sending him flying. Gohan attacked again, throwing punches and kicks at the commander. Brody simply grabbed Gohan by the face and slammed him on the ground. He then jumped up and started stomping on Gohan repeatedly. The son of Goku screamed in agony with each stomp from the Fire Commander. Every stomp caused Gohan to sink deeper into the ice. "What's the problem son of Kakarot?! Don't have any more tricks up your sleeve?!" Brody asked as he jumped up again but this time at a higher altitude.

"Just this last one! **Light Grenade!** " Gohan shouted as he fired an energy ball from his hands. The blast hit Brody in mid-air and it expanded into a giant energy wave that consumed him entirely. The combustion stretched toward the clouds, and when it ceased, Brody fell from the sky with a trail of smoke behind him. He crashed on the ground but had managed to land on all fours. He was breathing heavily, his right chest plate was completely gone, exposing his ab that was burned, his left pants leg was ripped, and one of his eyes was closed shut. The Fire Commander looked up and saw that he was surrounded by his four enemies.

"He's down! Let's finish him off!" Trunks cried as he and Gohan placed their hands above their heads. Both of their palms started to form a sphere of Ki. At the same time, Beat and Note had cupped their hands together and were focusing all of their energies into their palms.

" **Masenko…Ha!"** Gohan and Trunks shouted as they fired yellow beams at the Fire Commander.

" **Kamehame…Ha!"** Beat and Note yelled when they launched the turtle shockwave at Brody.

The four energy blasts crashed into Brody from four different angles; the collision made an explosion that swallowed up the commander and stretched to the clouds above. All of the Ki benders who were fighting Brody were exhaling deeply. The eruption died down and the spot Brody was last seen was covered with smoke. The smoke eventually cleared and the four fighters got a look at what was left of their foe, only to be shocked at the state he was in. His body was more injured than before, the top part of his armor was completely destroyed, showing his bruised chest, his arms were singed, and blood was leaking from his left leg. But most shocking was that even though evidence showed that he was caught in the explosion, he had managed to place a force field that shielded him from most of the blast. The fighters gawked at the commander as he lowered his protective barrier; his eyes were covered by his long hair and his body started channeling a green aura. "Gotta say, that was a close one. Almost thought I was done for…" Brody muttered as he slowly raised his head, revealing his eyes full of killing intent. "Now you all will suffer!"

In a flash, Brody disappeared and there was a sound of someone gasping in pain. Gohan, Note, and Trunks turned to Beat's direction to see Brody had kneed their ally in the back. Beat fell to the ground as Brody disappeared and punched Gohan in the gut in an instant, putting him in the same condition as the traitor. Brody smirked at his victims' agony before he appeared in front of Note. She instinctively tried to kick him in the head but he dodged her attack and kicked her in the waist, knocking her into an ice wall. Brody then slowly turned his neck to gaze at his last target: Trunks. The Fire Commander slowly walked toward the prince; Trunks stretched his hands forward and started rapidly firing energy blasts at his enemy. Brody was just consumed by a wall of smoke as Trunks continued firing, when a fist suddenly uppercut Trunks in the chin before he was blasted away by a Ki blast from Brody's mouth.

The oppressor looked around at his beaten opponents, each one lying on the ground in pain. Beat had his right hand on his back, Gohan grasped his stomach with both hands, Note clutched her aching waistwith her left hand, and Trunks rubbed his face, trying to ease the pain he felt.

" _I can't believe after everything we did to him, he's still moving around like our attacks were nothing more than mere bug bites!"_ Gohan thought in disbelief. _"And yet his attacks have broken my ribs!"_

" _He's so bloodthirsty; how in the world did we ever think we stood a chance against him?"_ Beat wondered.

" _There's no way he could possibly be human! He's gotta be some kind of monster, even more than the Fire Nation's standards!"_ Note thought fearfully.

" _After all this time, even with all my training, the gap in power between us is still at a wide margin. I'm still no match for him!"_ Trunks thought in despair.

Brody grinned evilly when he saw all of the looks of fear on his prey's faces. "Don't tell me all of you are too scared to attack me now?! Ha! Pity, I was hoping to inflict more pain on you before you died!" Brody's body began to channel green Ki into the shape of a sphere; with a mighty yell, the Ki sphere combust and blew all of Brody's challengers away while destroying some of the town square. When Brody finished, he could see all of the Ki benders were lying in the snow face down. At first he thought they were dead, but when he saw their bodies twitching, his face shifted into a frown. "Still alive, huh?! That won't be for much longer 'cause I'm ending this now!" Brody declared as he slowly approached the son of Goku. He stopped right in front of his head when he noticed Gohan struggling to get up. "You are truly stubborn! Just do yourself a favor and accept defeat so that you won't experience more pain!" Brody taunted the boy.

"Never!" Gohan exclaimed as he glared at the commander. Gohan suddenly dashed at Brody with his right fist ready. He swung it as hard as he could in his weakened state, but Brody easily grabbed his wrist. Brody then kneed Gohan in the chin before elbow bashing him down. Brody laughed as his enemy was trembling. "Well, whether you give up or not won't change anything…" Brody stated as he picked up Gohan by the neck and started choking him. "Because your time is up!"

Gohan grabbed Brody's hand, trying to force it open before he lost all of his breathing air. The more Brody squeezed, the more air escaped from Gohan's lungs until his arms eventually went slack and he passed out. Brody formed a Ki blast in his hand and held it at Gohan's face. "Any last words?!" he asked, despite knowing that his foe was incapable of answering. "None? Then I guess this is goodbye!"

"Let him go, Brody!" said a voice from behind the Fire Commander. He quickly turned around, expecting to see some new enemy, but was relieved to see that it was just the weakened Fire Prince who had spoke.

"Patience Trunks, you'll get your turn!" Brody said before turning back to Gohan. "I just have to finish off this weakling then I'll be right with you!"

"I…said…let…him…go!" Trunks huffed as he pulled out his sword and dashed at the commander. Brody was too focused on what he was doing that he didn't notice Trunks coming up behind him with his Brave sword drawn. When Trunks got close enough, he swung the sword as hard as he could, slashing it across Brody's back. Brody instantly stopped what he was doing and looked back at Trunks; the lavender-haired fighter only stared back while exhaling strongly. A large cut suddenly appeared on his back; although Brody couldn't see it he could feel it as blood spilled out from his back. He dropped Gohan and slowly turned to face the warrior who had the nerve to strike his back like that.

"Fine! Since you can't wait, you can die first!" Brody said before he punched Trunks in the face. The prince staggered a bit, but quickly shook it off and swung his blade at Brody again. The commander simply swatted the blade out of his enemy's hand. Brody then punched him again, this time sending him flying into an ice wall. Brody then appeared in front Trunks and grabbed him by the throat. "Oh, I ain't gonna kill you just yet!" Brody snarled as he leveled his fist at Trunks' stomach. "First, I need to make you suffer!" Brody then punched Trunks in the belly, making him scream in pain. Brody started rapidly punching Trunks, making him scream more and more. Gohan eventually woke up to the sound of Trunks' screaming; he started coughing as his lungs tried to take air back in. Gohan watched as Brody mercilessly beat the Fire prince while laughing at his cries of anguish.

Finally not being able to take anymore, Gohan forced himself to get on all fours as he said, "Stop…" Brody seemed to ignore the boy's demands as he continued to torture the teenage fighter. "I said stop!" Gohan cried, getting Brody's attention. The commander looked over at the son of Goku, who was still struggling to standup.

"I'll be with you in a minute, Gohan! Right now, I have to make sure that this trash doesn't let people know that he's still alive!" Brody shouted as he resumed beating Trunks.

Gohan watched helplessly as Trunks was painfully beaten by Brody. He looked over to his other allies and saw that Beat and Note were too weak to fight; he was the only one left to take Brody down. He fought to get back on his feet, but his body refused to respond and he fell back on all fours. _"No! I can't give up! I won't give up! I told my master that I would give it my all, that I would keep fighting! Even if my enemies are stronger, I will never give up! My father and my teacher put their faith in me and I won't let them down!"_ Gohan thought as he made it to his knees; as he was attempting to stand, his body started emitting a gold aura and his hair stood up. Gohan pushed himself back on his feet and yelled, "I SAID STOP!" and in that instant, his body exploded in golden light.

* * *

At the oasis, the Southerner continued to hug Yue's corpse when it suddenly faded from existence. A second after it disappeared, the Koi fish in Iroh's hands started to glow. The General placed the fish back in the water; it started swimming again and the pond illuminated a white glow. The light then took the shape of Princess Yue, now taking the role as the moon spirit. She floated toward the tribesman to bid him farewell. "Goodbye, Sokka. I will always be with you." They shared one final kiss before Yue disappeared and the moon returned in the sky.

After finishing its battle, the Ocean spirit looked up and saw that the moon has returned. The Ocean monster started to dissolve back into water; the Ocean spirit swam back to the city wall and placed the Avatar there before splitting into two parts and flowing into the city. Aang held his head in exhaustion from being in the Avatar state.

* * *

In the town square, Brody stopped inflicting pain to Trunks and looked behind him to see Gohan standing in gold light. "Ha! You still want to fight?! You're just wasting your time, you'll never defeat m…" His voice went quiet when he saw Gohan's terrifying new form. The boy's hair had gotten spikier and had change from black to gold, his eyes were now teal, his muscles had grown slightly, and he was emitting a fiery gold energy. _"I-Is that the legendary transformation?!"_ Brody thought as he stared at Gohan in awe. _"This…can't be! How could did this punk achieve the power I haven't managed to access?! How is he…a Super Saiyan already?!"_

Gohan stared at Brody with a look of pure rage. He removed his headband, showing his bruised forehead that was bleeding and tied it around his right hand. "I can't let you hurt anyone else! No matter what, I will defeat you!" Gohan declared.

Brody stared shaking as Gohan began slowly trekking toward him. "No! It's not true! There's no way a worm like you could surpass me, even if you are a Super Saiyan!" Brody cried.

" _Super Saiyan?"_ Gohan wondered.

Brody thrust his hand forward and fired a strong green blast at Gohan; he didn't stop there as he continued firing energy blasts at his opponent. When he stopped to take a few breaths, he was shocked to see Gohan was still standing there and not even the slightest bit fazed from the blast barrage. Gohan stared at himself as he thought, _"Incredible! He put a lot of power into those attacks and yet, I didn't feel a thing. I'm not even the slightest bit damaged!"_ He looked at his hand, feeling the flow of his new power. _"So this is the power of a… Super Saiyan! The power to protect my friends and fight for what's right! I can feel it! I could probably match the Avatar like Gyatso said."_ Gohan was suddenly bonked on the head by Brody; the commander smirked, thinking he inflicted some pain on the Super Saiyan, but he gasped when Gohan raised and looked at him questionably. "Did you just hit me?" he asked.

Brody staggered back without answering; he then growled as he punched Gohan in the face. The Super Saiyan just blinked as he glared back at Brody. The Fire commander started trembling as he looked into Gohan's enraged teal eyes. "Are you feeling scared yet?!" Gohan questioned before punched Brody right in the stomach. "You should be!"

Brody grasped his gut as he wheezed; the pain from that single blow was greater than anything he ever felt in his life. Blood spilled from his mouth as he staggered back. He jumped to attack Gohan, but the Super Saiyan simply stretched his hand out and released a kiai that blew Brody into an ice home. Brody looked at his enemy as he struggled not to pass out. He then gritted his teeth as he channeled his energy throughout his body. "This can't be! I refuse to accept this! I don't care if you are a Super Saiyan, I will not lose to you!" The commander rushed at Gohan with his Ki at full capacity. He threw a fist at the son of Goku, but he effortlessly dodged it and punched Brody back in the face. Brody quickly recovered and continued throwing punches and kicks at the Super Saiyan. Gohan avoided every single strike until he grabbed both of Brody's arms and skull bashed him in the head. Brody backed up and glared at Gohan as blood slid down his forehead. "I am Commander Brute, son of the Legendary General Brute! How dare you humiliate me! I promise you, I will make you pay for this!" Brody declared.

Gohan just frowned at him and said, "I'm actually not interested in continuing this fight any longer, so it's time to end this!" Gohan then poured his Ki into his fists; both started glowing as gold spheres formed around them. Gohan then took a step back before running toward Brody. The Fire Commander put up his hand to defend himself but was met with an elbow bash to his face. Gohan continued his assault by kicking Brody multiple times. He then reared his left fist back and shouted, **"Take this! The Fist of the Mighty Oozaru!"** As he threw his Ki enhanced fist forward, an image of a giant raging ape appeared and Brody was sucker punched right in the gut. Brody choked up and coughed out some blood as he staggered back.

He held his stomach in agony as he could feel every one of his ribs had been shattered from that single blow. Gohan prepared to finish his attack by pulling back his right fist as the energy around it began to take the shape of a gold dragon. **"Super Dragon Fist!"** he called out as he swung his fist at Brody and nailed him in the right cheek. Brody was launched backward; he slid across the icy floor, digging a trail in the process. After he stopped, Brody attempted to move but found it difficult. "It's time to end this!" Gohan declared as he jumped into the air high above Brody. He cupped his hands to his side as he prepared to perform his father's special move. **"Ka…me…ha…me…"** Gohan chanted as he formed a star of blue Ki. Brody stared at the boy about to obliterate him, and for the first time in a long while, Brody felt…afraid. He was always taught to never feel fear, and the only person he was truly afraid of was his father, but now he was terrified that this boy would end his life once and for all.

" **Ha!"** the Super Saiyan roared. He thrust his hands forward and launched the magnificent blue beam at the Fire Commander. The blast hit Brody dead-on and detonated instantly. The explosion consumed Brody while destroying a few empty ice buildings. When it stopped, Brody was lying in a deep snow trench that was starting to take in water. Gohan walked over to the crater and picked up Brody; he could sense that he was still alive but unconscious. He carried him onto an ice bridge and placed him on it. "Be glad that I held back to avoid killing you," he muttered to his beaten foe. He then went back to the battlefield to find the unconscious fire prince, who was starting to regain consciousness, before flying him to the bridge and also doing the same with Beat and Note. Gohan looked over at the Fire commander and asked, "What am I supposed to do with him now?"

"Let me take care of him," Prince Trunks responded as he slowly stood up. He paced over to the fallen commander and hoisted him onto his shoulder. He glanced at Gohan and saw him in his new golden form. "That's some power you got there! It's amazing!" he said to the Super Saiyan.

"Yeah, it is!" Gohan agreed. He picked up Beat and Note before looking back at Trunks to say, "You'd better get out of here while you still can. The Water Tribe will be here any minute." Trunks nodded to him; the two then noticed that the lighting around them had changed. They looked up to see the full moon in the night sky once again. "I don't know how, but the moon is back where it belongs, which means the Waterbenders should have their strength back."

Trunks knew what he meant; neither he nor Brody were in any condition to battle fully powered Waterbenders, so they needed to retreat fast. As Trunks turned to leave, he sensed something coming toward the ice bridge. "Watch out!" he cried as a giant wave of spiritual water crashed into the bridge, crumbling it. Gohan managed to jump away from the Ocean spirit's attack with Beat and Note in his grasp. He placed them on the entrance before he looked back to see the Ocean spirit's essence had formed a giant hand that had grabbed Brody and Trunks. The Fire Prince was struggling to get free, but in his current state, he had no chance of escaping. Gohan watched as the Ocean spirit's hand lowered toward the water; time seemed to slow down as he became conflicted on what to do.

Both Ki benders were his enemies, and would stop at nothing to take him down, capture his brother, and help the Fire Nation rule the world. Gohan's eyes fell on Brody; his expression grew angrier as he could only see all the terrible things the Commander had done since they met, including killing the moon spirit, which was why he was in this situation. Gohan may have spared him, but that didn't mean he should stop someone else from killing him; if anything, he deserved what he was getting.

His vision shifted to Trunks and his feelings became uncertain of this fighter. He'd been after Aang since the beginning, and had beaten him a few times. But Gohan immediately started to remember that he and Trunks were friends in another life and the few good things Trunks had done, despite being his enemy. _"I know he's a good person, but should I save on the whim that he might change one day?"_ Gohan wondered. _"And if I save Trunks, I save Brody too."_

As the Ocean spirit's arm continued to lower into the water, Gohan spotted Trunks' Brave sword sticking out of the bridge. After closing his eyes and instantly reopening them, Gohan ran to the edge of the broken bridge and grabbed Trunks' blade. He jumped toward the water arm and swung the sword at it, severing the hand from the rest of the arm and freeing the Ki benders of the Fire Nation and grabbing them by their hair. The Super Saiyan then shot a beam from his mouth at the water arm, pushing it back into the water. After it disappeared, he dropped his enemies onto the right part of the damaged ice bridge and went over to the left part. His Super Saiyan form finally faded as he tossed the Brave Sword over to Trunks before picking up Beat and Note. He looked over back at the lavender-haired teen, who had picked up Brody.

The two fighters stared at each other for a full minute before Trunks declared, "Thanks. But like I said before, this changes nothing between us." He then turned and left with Gohan doing the same. _"Maybe not now, but someday…"_ Gohan pondered as he searched the city for a healer.

* * *

Somewhere else in the city, Prince Zuko and Admiral Zhao continued their Agni Kai on an ice bridge. Both Firebenders launched a series of attacks at each other, but Zuko came out on top by unleashing a powerful fire blast that knocked Zhao backward. The scarred Prince continued his assault by shooting more fireballs at his opponent until he finally knocked Zhao flat on his back.

As Zhao stared up at Prince Zuko, his eyes caught sight of the full moon now back in the sky. "It can't be!" Zhao shouted. At that moment, the Ocean spirit's essence had swarmed the ice bridge. Zuko rolled away but Zhao was caught by La's hand; the son of Ozai looked back to see the Fire Admiral being slowly pulled off the bridge. As the Admiral struggled, Zuko stepped onto the bridge's rail and stretched his hand out. "Take my hand!" he cried. At first, Zhao's hand reached for the teen's hand, but he quickly pulled back as his face showed despise for him and pride.

The Future Fire Lord could only watch as the Fire Admiral was consumed by the spirit water and dragged to the ocean, disappearing completely. Trunks then came up behind him while carrying the unconscious Brody. "We should find Iroh and get out of here," he suggested.

"Yeah. Let's go," Zuko replied while still looking into the ocean.

* * *

The next day, many of the Waterbenders and the citizens were hard at work repairing the damage done to their city by the Fire Nation and the Energy benders' battle. At the damaged citadel, Master Pakku stood at the edge, staring into the horizon with his female pupil standing behind him. "I've decided to go to the South Pole. Some other benders and healers want to join me," Pakku announced as he turned to face the Southern Waterbender. "It's time we helped rebuild our sister tribe."

"What about Aang?" Katara inquired while looking over to the monk, who was standing away from them with Momo."He still needs to learn waterbending."

"Well, then he better get used to calling you, 'Master Katara,'" Pakku replied while smiling.

Sokka stood with Chief Arnook and Note after relaying the news about Yue's passing to them. The three stared at full moon that shined over the North City; though it was fading, it was still clear for them to see. "The Spirits gave me a vision when Yue was born." the Chief began sadly. "I saw... a beautiful, brave young woman... become the Moon Spirit. I knew this day would come." He closed his eyes and sighed.

"You must be proud," Sokka said.

"So proud. And sad," Arnook replied.

Note placed her hand on the Chief's shoulder to comfort him. "Even as a princess, Yue always felt like a prisoner here. Like she was bound to this city. But now as a spirit, I feel like she's finally… free," she said with a smile. "And now she will be a new source of strength to her people. She'll always be there for us; it's her duty now." The female Ki bender turned to leave as she thought, _"Goodbye Yue, you'll be a great Moon Spirit. I'll miss you, but I know you'll be watching over me through the moon."_ She then went toward the medical bay to check on her friends.

She stepped into the medical bay and saw Yugoda tending to Gohan's injuries. He had bandages around his arms, legs, abdomen, and forehead. After a few minutes, she removed her healing water away from the boy and said, "There, that should do it. But you might want to take it easy for a while."

"Thank you, Yugoda," Gohan replied as the old healer left him to recover. He then looked up and saw Note. "Oh, hey, Note," he greeted.

"Hey Gohan. Glad to see you're doing ok," she greeted back. She then looked around before asking, "Have you seen Beat?"

"He said we should come find him when we're well enough. He said you'd know where to find him," Gohan told her.

Note thought for a second before stating, "I know where he is! Let's go!" She grabbed Gohan's wrist and started pulling him out of the medical bay. The two wandered through the city until they found their friend sitting on an ice bridge staring into the horizon. Beat looked over at them when he sensed them coming.

"Took you long enough," Beat said before questioning, "What happened to Brody?"

"Don't worry about him. Trunks took him away after I beat him," Gohan answered.

"I see," Beat said while still looking out to the sea. "I was hoping to get a chance to apologize to the both of you before I said goodbye."

"Goodbye? You're leaving?!" Note asked.

"Yes. I can't stay here. Even though I betrayed Zhao, I'm still a member of the Fire Nation. I'll never fit in here," Beat explained. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for causing the two of you problems."

"Don't worry about it. I always knew you were a good person," Gohan said. "I could never hold a grudge against my friends."

"You think of me as a friend?" Beat asked, surprised. Gohan nodded in response which made Beat smile. "Thank you, Gohan."

"You're my friend too, Beat. And I was never angry at you, I'm just glad you've decided to be my friend again," Note spoke as she sat beside him.

"So am I," Beat replied. He then looked away and thought for a moment. "Uh Note, there's something I wanted to ask you."

"What's that?" Note inquired.

"I was hoping that you would accompany me on my journey," he answered. "I know that this is your home, and you probably want to stay and help your people; plus you're still sad about what happened to the princess. But I'd really like for you to come with me like we agreed years ago." He turned to face Note, who was staring at him with wide eyes. Seeing her expression made him nervous as he started chickening out. "Y-You don't have to if you don't want to! I could just leave and come back in few years when you're read—Ow!" he cried as he rubbed his arm from the punch Note gave him. "What was that for?"

"For being an idiot! Like I wouldn't want to go with you, I was actually about to ask to go with you!" Note revealed.

"You were? So does that mean yes?" Beat asked.

"Yeah it does! I'm ready to travel the world if you are!" Note replied.

Gohan smiled as he watched his friends. "You know, you guys don't have to travel the world by yourselves. You could always join me and my friends," he suggested.

"Thanks Gohan, but I don't think we want to go where you're going," Beat told him.

"I don't even know where we're going yet," Gohan admitted.

"Well, wherever you guys are headed, you'll definitely run into the Fire Nation and we want to avoid that for as long as possible," Beat explained.

"Plus, we've got a lot of catching up to do. We'll be fine on our own," Note assured her teacher. She then got up and hugged him, which surprised him at first but he quickly got over it and hugged her back. "Thanks for training us; these new skills will be very helpful when facing this world."

"My pleasure. You guys are very talented," Gohan replied. He then released Note and approached Beat, extending his fist to him and saying, "I'd be willing to spar with you again anytime, Beat."

Beat smiled as he bumped fists with his teacher. "You beat me the last time, but I'll keep training to get stronger. I won't let you leave me in the dust," he vowed.

"I hope you and Note get a lot stronger; I look forward to the next fight with my students," Gohan said. "See you guys later." He then flew away to join up with his friends.

* * *

Out at sea, General Iroh, his disciples, and the fallen commander were on a raft sailing away from the Northern Water Tribe. They floated past multiple destroyed fire navy battleships. As they passed the wreckage, Trunks was sitting on the raft, Zuko was staring back at the city, Brody was still unconscious from his battle with the Super Saiyan and Iroh was tending to the sail of the raft. "I'm surprised, Prince Zuko. Surprised that you and Trunks are not at this moment trying to capture the Avatar," Iroh admitted before he looked at his pupils skeptically.

"I'm tired," Zuko stated without looking.

"Then you should rest," Iroh advised him as he put his hand on his nephew's shoulder. "A man needs his rest."

"What about him?" Zuko asked as he looked over at Brody.

"He won't be up for a while, but I'll keep an eye on him so that you can get some rest. Deal?" Trunks replied.

"Deal," Zuko said. He laid down on the raft and stared into the sky with a hurt look on his face before he closed his eyes.

Iroh smiled before going over to Trunks. "Why don't you get some rest too? I'll keep an eye on Brody for you," he offered as he put his hand on his adoptive son's shoulder.

"Thank you, father," Trunks said before he laid down and closed his eyes.

* * *

Back at the City, the Avatar was looking out at the damaged city in sadness. He then noticed Katara standing behind him and turned to face her. After staring at each other for a moment, the two embraced each other. They heard their Lemur chirp and looked to see him staring up at them. "You too, Momo," Katara told the lemur. "Come here." Aang held up his arm for Momo. The Lemur jumped onto his arm and moved to his shoulder. Katara pet him as Sokka appeared by Aang and put his hand on his other shoulder. Gohan showed up with Icarus and Appa floated up beside them. The Gang stared out as they prepared to embark on their next great adventure.

* * *

In the Fire Nation Capital, inside the royal palace, the Fire Lord sat in his throne room surrounded by flames. Before him knelt the Fire Nation prodigy, Princess Azula. Fire Lord Ozai began to speak to his daughter regarding the events of the loss at the North Pole. "Iroh is a traitor. Your brother Zuko and Trunks are failures. I have a task for you…" Azula smiled as she received her assignment.

 **A/N: And that concludes Five Elements season one. You will not believe how many late nights I've had while trying to write this chapter. It took much longer than I planned. Sorry if it's too long, I didn't expect my additions to be so much. But all flaws aside, what do you think, especially about the part where Gohan goes Super Saiyan? Now I have an announcement… I'll be taking a break from this story for some time. I want to spend time working on my other Fanfics and putting out some of my other ideas for future Fanfics. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning this story, just putting it on hold for a while. Just be patient my fellow readers, I'll get back to it before you know it! Until next time, TTFN AntiHero out!**

 **The Bright Side by Sally B. Mcgill**

 **RWBBY - The Shapeshifter by sparkydragon98**

 **A Contender's Bonds by Insane Dominator**

 **The Golden Fairy by Superale2**

 **Dragon Tail Z by Yours truly, AntiHero627**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Water, Earth, Fire, Air, Ki! Five Elements is back, baby! Thank you to all my readers who waited patiently while I took a break from this story; as promised, now I've finished the first season, so it's time for the Origin stories, and first up is Gohan! Time to see how the Avatar and the Demi Saiyan met and became close. I hope you'll like it; I put a lot of thought into making it work. Now, without any more interruptions, it's time for Five Elements!**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own Dragon Ball Z or Avatar: The Legend of Aang**

 **Chapter19 – The Avatar and the Oozaru child**

It has been days since the Siege on the North Pole. After the Gang managed to defeat Admiral Zhao's forces, they decided to start their journey to the Earth Kingdom by sailing with Master Pakku and his crew. It was late at night, and everyone was supposed to have been asleep, but the Energybender lay wide awake in his bed. He just couldn't stop thinking about all that had happened since the day he reunited with the Avatar. Even though he and his friends have done a lot to help people and have gotten stronger, he still felt like this war was far from over and it wasn't going to get any easier. _"We've all come a long way since we started this journey, especially Aang,"_ he thought. He then remembered that he had his own purpose to fulfill once this war was over; he climbed out of his bed and walked onto the ship's deck.

He stared into the night sky, thinking about how life was so much simpler for him before he met Gyatso and Aang; he met many new fighters, learned new techniques from a few masters, gained a couple of enemies, and overall got much stronger. He could feel that he was one step closer to completing his own objective. As the Energybender was collecting his thoughts, he sensed someone coming onto the deck; he looked over and smiled when he saw the Avatar coming to gaze at the stars. "Hey Aang, can't sleep?" he inquired.

Aang turned and saw his best friend approaching him. "Oh, hey Gohan," he greeted. "Just been finding it hard to sleep lately."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Gohan offered.

"Not really," Aang replied.

"Ok." The two boys then went back to stargazing. "Nice night, huh?"

Aang nodded. "Yeah, it's nights like these that almost make me forget that we're in the middle of a war."

"We've come a long way from the Southern Air Temple," Gohan commented.

"We've been through so much since we've met and even more since we met Katara and Sokka," Aang said.

"Sure, a lot of bad things have happened, and we've made a few enemies, but some good things have happened, too," Gohan stated. "You learned Waterbending, I improved my fighting skills, Katara became a Master Waterbender, and Sokka... learned some things." The boys laughed at Gohan's last comment. "The point is that we've matured a lot and we're not gonna stop until we've ended this war for good."

"But do you really think I'll be able to master the elements and defeat the Fire Lord in time?" the monk asked.

"I have no doubt, you just have to believe in yourself, bro," Gohan answered.

"Thanks, Gohan," Aang said gratefully.

"Anytime," Gohan replied. "Try to get some sleep; you'll need your strength if you want to start training with Bumi." Aang nodded before leaving to get back to sleep. After a few minutes, Gohan decided that he should try to resume sleeping as well; he made his way back to his bed and closed his eyes. As he drifted to sleep, he began to remember how he met his Airbending friend.

* * *

Flashback, 108 years ago

Deep in the heart of a mysterious forest that was close to a nearby town, a 6 year old boy with black, spiky hair, black eyes, and a brown monkey tail, wearing an orange and blue Gi, a red headband, and a smaller sword strapped to his back was jumping through the forest. The young boy was leaping from branch to branch before he landed on the ground and started running; he looked behind him to see a Saber Tooth Moose Lion charging after him. The boy smiled as the beast ran faster to catch him. The adventurous kid continued to run with the animal right on his tail (literally and figuratively) before he started increasing in speed, gaining some distance from his pursuer. "Come on, Mr. Moose Lion, you're gonna have to go faster if you wanna catch me!" the boy taunted the animal. The beast roared as it ran faster and tried to claw at Gohan's tail. "Whoa, almost got me that time." The two continued their game of cat and mouse until Gohan suddenly turned right; the beast couldn't react fast enough and crashed antler first into a tree. The Moose Lion roared as it attempted to remove its antlers, but they stuck to the bark. "Don't worry, I'll help you!" said Gohan as he approached the animal.

He jumped onto the Moose Lion's antlers and planted his feet against a tree; with a mighty heave, Gohan pushed against the tree and forced the horns free. The Moose Lion shook its head before roaring at Gohan and turning away to leave, apparently not interested in chasing him again. "Awww, you're giving up already?!" Gohan asked. "Well, ok then! Maybe we can do this again tomorrow?!" The boy waved at the beast as it disappeared from his sight; Gohan then started jumping from branch to branch and swinging on vines with a happy expression on his face. He eventually stopped when he heard a rumbling sound; he patted his stomach as it growled again but louder. "Guess all that exercising made me hungry," he said. "I'm in the mood for fish today!" The boy wandered over to a lake where he dipped his tail in and waited; after a few minutes, a giant fish jumped out of the water and prepared to bite him. Gohan quickly kicked it away and tackled it back into the water. The two wrestled with each other while emerging and submerging; it finally ended with Gohan emerging from the lake victorious while dragging the giant unconscious fish. "Hmm, gonna need some fruit to go with this meal," he mused.

Gohan carried the fish over to a large tree. Once there, he picked up a large leaf before jumping at the tree and kicking it numerous times. When he stopped, he held out the leaf as a cluster of berries fell from the tree. He caught them all and placed them beside his fish; he sat down and started munching on the fruit. When he finished, he wiped his mouth and said, "Alright, time for the main course!" He then cut a branch off from the tree and carved it into a stake before sticking it into the fish. He placed the fish down and gathered a few pieces of wood. He then picked up a rock and struck his sword with it; after a couple of strikes, the sparks managed to light a fire with the wood. He placed the fish over the fire and waited for it to cook. When it was done, he devoured it instantly and patted his stomach which expanded for a second until he let out a breath of relief. Gohan then looked at the sky and saw that the sun was setting. "It's getting late, guess I'd better find some shelter," he decided before he sheathed his blade and trekked off.

He eventually placed himself in a small cave; he took off his clothes and folded them to use as a pillow. He stared at the night sky, gazing at the half moon and the numerous stars in the firmament."The sky sure is beautiful tonight," he sighed. "Especially the moon. Though I would love to see a full moon and gaze at it for a couple of hours, I always seem to fall asleep after looking at it for a second." His mind then trailed back to the legends he heard surrounding the full moon. _"This beast that appears during the full moon, some say it's an angry spirit beast while others say it's a destructive monster! I've never seen it before, yet people claim that it exists! How can I always be asleep when it appears?"_ he wondered before he slowly drifted to sleep.

* * *

The next day

Gohan woke up to the sun rising and shining on his face; he yawned as he sat up and scratched his head with his tail. _"Morning, huh? Guess it's time for some breakfast,"_ he thought before he put on his clothes grabbed his sword and headed out into the woods.

Inside the town, an Airbending monk and his young pupil had just entered and requested to take refuge there for a few nights. The monk had noticed that many of the people in town were busy gathering food and supplies and carrying them to what looked like an underground shelter. The monk had asked the village leader what everyone was preparing for. "The Wrath of the Oozaru," the leader replied.

"I beg your pardon?" the monk inquired.

"The Oozaru is a giant monstrous ape that appears during the full moon and destroys everything in its path!" he explained. "No one knows where it came from, only that it has laid numerous towns to waste in the last 2 years. Its stomp can create massive earthquakes, its fists can shatter mountains, its roar can level a forest, and its breath of fire can wipe out an entire city!" The leader seemed shaken up a bit from just thinking about while the monk was disturbed by this. "No one knows where to find it. Many have tried to track it down, but it only appears under the full moon, and when the day comes, it disappears completely without a trace. Our best hope is to attack it head-on when it appears, but nothing is capable of hurting it; water, earth, even Firebending attacks cannot faze it. We can only distract it so that the people can get to safety, and wait out the night."

"Perhaps I can offer some assistance," the Airbender suggested. "Allow me to assist you in this time of crisis as gratitude for your hospitality. My people don't normally bother with other nations' problems because we try to detach ourselves from the world, but I fear that this beast will eventually make its way to our homes if not stopped, so I need to see it in order to help my people prepare for it in the future."

"Hmm, very well, my friend, you may start by helping us load our things into the underground hideout," he instructed the Airbender. "But be warned, once dusk arrives, all who value their lives must get to safety immediately! Anyone still above ground when the Oozaru appears is to survive on their own." He then left to check on his people's progress.

The monk was about to assist the people in their preparations when he felt someone tugging on his robe; he looked down and smiled at his disciple. "Gyatso, may I please explore the forest?" the boy asked.

"Of course, Aang, if you hope to become one with nature and treasure its life, you must see it for yourself," Gyatso answered. "But make sure to be back here by the time the sun sets, as we must not be out when the village is being attacked."

Aang was so excited about getting to explore the woods that he didn't bother to ask about what would attack the town. The young Airbender ran off into the forest eagerly. He wandered around aimlessly while spotting many different animals; he eventually spotted a Badger frog and began mimicking it. He hopped along after it before it finally leaped into the bushes. Aang searched for the creature while calling, "Here, little Froggy! Come out, come out, wherever you are!" He then heard some rustling in the bushes and went to look in them. He spotted a pair of eyes and attempted to touch the creature, but before he could, the head of a wolf came out and tried to bite Aang's hand. The little Airbender pulled his hand away and moved back as a pack of wolves came out growling at him."Heh heh, nice doggies, good boys," Aang said nervously. "Please don't eat me."

In response, the wolves lunged at Aang; instinctively, the boy used his Airbending to blow them back, but it was a weak attack, so the pack just shook it off. Aang quickly got to his feet and started running with the wolves chasing after him. He ran through the forest as fast as he could, and although he was slightly faster than an ordinary man due to his Airbending training, the wolves were pretty quick too and managed to keep up with him. One of them actually managed to slash Aang's leg, causing him to trip and fall down a hill. Aang crashed into a stump and grasped his right leg in pain. The wolves started to slowly creep closer to their prey. The young Airbender tried to defend himself by blasting them with air attacks, but they did little to affect the predators. The wolves bared their fangs, which made Aang tremble with fear. The Alpha then ordered the pack to stop and prepared to advance on Aang alone; it jumped at the little boy with its jaws wide open. Aang closed his eyes as he waited for the wolf to chomp down on his head.

Suddenly, something intercepted the beast by tackling it before it got to Aang; the Alpha rolled on the ground as the attacker landed in front of the Airbender. Aang opened his eyes to see a black, spiky-haired boy about his age wearing an orange Gi and a red headband, and had a sword strapped to his back, standing defensively in front of him. The Alpha stood up and shook its head; when it noticed Gohan, it growled at him. Gohan glared at the wolf before looking at the kid he saved. "Don't worry, just stay back," Gohan instructed as he smiled at the boy. He then got on all fours and started circling the Alpha while growling. **(A/N: Imagine Gohan under the influence of his programming from Goku's space pod.)** Gohan roared and jumped at the wolf, which pounced at him in return. The Alpha came out on top when it pinned Gohan to the ground, but the young fighter countered by biting its left leg, forcing it to back away. Gohan then jumped onto the wolf's back and bit down on it; the Alpha howled in pain as it started shaking itself in an attempt toss his enemy off. The lead wolf then bashed its back into a tree with Gohan on it, causing the boy to let go of his back and fall to the ground.

The Alpha then barked at its pack, ordering them to advance on the boy; pretty soon, Gohan was surrounded by ten wolves, (including the Alpha) ready to rip him to shreds. Aang watched worriedly as the predators formed a circle around his defender, since if he ended up losing, they would both be wolf chow. Gohan stood his ground as his eyes moved warily from wolf to wolf. The first wolf, probably the Beta, lunged at Gohan but was kicked away. Another one pounced at Gohan and landed on the boy's back, pinning him down. Gohan grabbed that wolf's tail with his own and tossed him into another wolf. Two wolves tried to attack Gohan at the same time, but he jumped back, making them crash into each other before kicking them both away. One wolf managed to get a hold of Gohan's right arm while another one got his left; the boy smirked before he bashed the wolves together, causing them to release him due to headache pain. Gohan smiled until he felt a sharp pain near his back; he looked behind himself to see that one of the wolves got the best of him and bit his tail. "Lucky dog," Gohan muttered before he collapsed in agony. The remaining two wolves, one of them being the Alpha, slowly approached the paralyzed Gohan.

Wanting to help, Aang created a ball of wind and threw at the wolf that held Gohan's tail. The airball crashed into the ground and created a dust wave that stung the wolf's eyes and nose, making him release Gohan's tail. Getting his strength back, Gohan immediately kicked the wolf in the muzzle as the other two turned to Aang in anger. Before they could attack, Gohan skull bashed the other wolf before grabbing the Alpha's tail and tossing him away. Gohan then stood in front of Aang and drew his sword; the ten wolves regrouped and stood before the two boys. Gohan swung his blade madly and sliced off a piece of bark before pointing his weapon at the pack. Deciding not to do something they'd regret, the wolves backed down and left the two boys. Gohan sighed as he sheathed his weapon. He then went over to Aang, who was grasping his leg in pain. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked the Airbender.

"Yeah, I'm alright," Aang replied while rubbing his leg. "Though, I think one of them got my leg."

"Let me see," Gohan instructed. He inspected Aang's leg and saw three red lines going horizontally. ""You need help. Let me take you to my home so I can patch you up." The spiky-haired boy placed one of Aang' arms over his shoulder, and the two began to walk through the forest. The duo eventually made it to Gohan's cave; there he rested Aang against a rock while he went to gather some ointment. Gohan mashed up a few plants and mixed them together. Once the ointment was made, Gohan brought it over to the injured Airbender. "Hold still, this is gonna sting... a lot," he warned Aang, He pressed the ointment against Aang's ankle, which made the Airbender hiss in pain. After he patched Aang's leg, Gohan started sharpening his sword.

"Thanks for saving me and patching me up," Aang said to the spiky-haired boy. "My name's Aang."

"My name's Gohan, and you're welcome, Aang," Gohan replied.

"So, you live here?" Aang asked.

Gohan nodded. "Yeah, I've been wandering for as long as I can remember," he answered. "I usually travel around a lot, so I'm not in one place for long."

"Just by yourself?' Aang questioned.

"It does seem like I'm lonely, but I do get to meet a few interesting people on my journey," Gohan said.

"So, where are you going exactly?" Aang inquired.

"Nowhere in particular, I just go to different places hoping to get stronger," Gohan responded. His stomach suddenly started to growl, as did Aang's. "I guess we'd both better get something for lunch." Gohan then helped Aang up and carried him through the woods; they eventually stopped at a berry patch and hid in the trees. They stayed there for about five minutes before Aang asked, "Uh, what are we waiting for?" Gohan put his finger to his mouth, telling to stay quiet before he pointed over to the berry bush. An Armadillo Bear had just rolled over to the bush and was munching on the berries. Gohan pulled out his sword in response, which surprised Aang. "W-What are you doing?" he asked. "I'm about to get our lunch," Gohan answered as he prepared to jump at the beast, but at the last second Aang instinctively grabbed his tail, causing him to stop his assault and dangle above the animal. The animal stopped eating and took a few sniffs. Aang quickly pulled Gohan back up as the creature turned around, only to see no one. The Armadillo Bear continued to sniff around as the boys hid in the trees; the animal eventually started smelling the tree the boys were in, but after a few whiffs, it backed away and ran off.

Aang sighed and rested against the tree as Gohan laid on the branch, glaring at him. "Great, it's gone, now can you let go of my tail?" he asked bitterly.

The young Airbender realized he was still holding Gohan's tail and let it go. Gohan reclaimed his appendage and started massaging it. "Why do you have a real tail?" Aang inquired.

"I don't know, I was just born with it," Gohan replied. "Now then, what was that all about?! Why'd you stop me from getting our lunch?!"

"W-Well, I didn't want you to get hurt?" he answered, though he didn't seem sure.

"I would've been fine. I've done this kind of thing before and you just saw me take on a pack of wolves," Gohan retorted.

"Ok, but you can't just attack an animal to eat it! The monks taught me that all life is sacred, even that of the tiniest insect," Aang said. "Plus, I'm a vegetarian, so I couldn't stand by and watch you attack it like that. I'm sorry."

"It's fine, but I guess we'll just have to get something else to eat," Gohan amended. The two then got up and began searching the woods for something to fill their stomachs. Pretty soon, they found numerous fruits for Aang to eat and a large fish for Gohan to munch on; although Aang was a little disturbed by the capturing and eating of the fish, he decided to let it go and just eat his own food in peace. After a few minutes, Gohan asked Aang, "So, what are you doing out here in the woods alone?"

"I'm actually not here alone," Aang replied. "I'm on a trip with my guardian. He said I could explore the woods while he helped the villagers. Which reminds me, I have to get back to the town before the sets."

"How come?" Gohan inquired.

"Gyatso wants us to get to safety before the village gets attacked," Aang answered.

"Who would want to attack the village after sunset?" Gohan questioned.

"I... forgot to ask him," Aang admitted sheepishly. "I guess I'll just have to ask him when I get back to the town. Bye Gohan, see ya later!" The Air trainee tried to leave, but his leg ached and he tripped; he would've fallen on his face if Gohan hadn't caught him. "Phew, thanks."

"You're still hurt from your run-in with the wolf pack, so you shouldn't strain yourself," Gohan advised him. "Let me help you get back to town."

"Sure thing, thanks," Aang said gratefully.

The two started walking together through the woods to reach the village. "So, you're an Airbender?" Gohan asked Aang, trying to start up a conversation.

"In training," Aang corrected. "My caretaker is the one teaching me Airbending. What about you? Are you a bender?"

"I am, I'm an Energybender," Gohan replied. "At least I would be if there was someone to teach me."

"Don't you have someone to train you?" Aang inquired.

Gohan shook his head. "That's why I spend most of my time in the woods. I have to train myself and figure out how to use my abilities," Gohan explained. "Many of the places I've traveled to don't have Energybenders since they're rare, and no one else wants to train someone whose bending was meant for an outcast."

"What about your parents, can't they teach you?" Aang suggested.

Gohan's face suddenly turned sad. "I don't...my parents are gone," Gohan answered. "At least, that's what I think. I don't really remember much about them or my little brother; all I know is that something happened to them two years ago, and they were gone. I've been alone ever since."

Aang looked at the Energybender with pity. "I'm sorry to hear that, Gohan."

"It's not your fault, besides I got over it," Gohan said, but Aang got the feeling that he was lying.

"What about friends? Don't you have any friends?" Aang asked.

"My travels kinda make it hard for me to have friends," Gohan responded. "Besides, most people that I've met have no interest in being friends with me since I'm different even amongst the benders."

"Well, you can be my friend, Gohan," Aang offered.

Gohan smiled at the little monk. "Thanks, Aang. I'd like that."

The two boys eventually made it back to the village; they stumbled in and looked around for Monk Gyatso. They eventually spotted him carrying food into the underground shelter. "Hey, Gyatso!" Aang called to his master. Gyatso looked over and saw his student coming toward him while being assisted by another boy. The Air master put down the food he was carrying and rushed over to his pupil. "Aang, are you alright?! What happened to your leg?!" he asked.

"I got into a bit of trouble, but it's okay, my new friend here saved me," Aang explained as he gestured to the Energybender.

Gyatso eyed the young boy curiously, which made Gohan a little nervous. He then noticed the brown appendage sticking out of Gohan's back. "He's got a tail!" Gyatso stated.

"Yeah, he was kinda born with it," Aang said.

"What an interesting young man," Gyatso mused. "What's your name?"

"It's Gohan, sir," Gohan answered.

"Please, call me Gyatso," the monk insisted.

"Well, nice to meet you Gyatso. I just wanted to make sure that Aang got back to you safely," Gohan said. "So, I'll just go now." The Energybender turned to leave and started walking away from the Air Nomads.

"Hold on a minute," Gyatso spoke, getting Gohan's attention. "Where are you going, boy?"

"Back to the forest," Gohan replied.

"But it's almost sundown, and I don't think the forest will protect you from the monster," Gyatso argued.

"Monster?" Gohan questioned.

"Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you about that," Aang remembered. "What's going to attack the village?"

"Well boys, on the night of a full moon, a giant monstrous ape appears and does truly terrible things," Gyatso explained. "Which is why we must beware, for once the full moon appears, no one is completely safe from this monster's rampage."

"Oh, then Gohan shouldn't go back into the forest alone," Aang realized.

Gyatso nodded. "Yes Aang, and so, I ask that you stay with us for the time being as gratitude for helping Aang, at least until morning," Gyatso offered.

"I don't know," Gohan said, feeling unsure about this.

"Come on, Gohan, it'll be great to spend the night with some friends than by yourself, right?" Aang asked.

Gohan thought about this for a minute before replying, "Okay, I'll stay with you guys! It's better than being alone!"

"Alright!" Aang cheered.

Gyatso smiled at his pupil's enthusiasm. "Alright boys, wash up and get ready for bed. We can only get a few minutes of sleep before the full moon is out," he instructed the children. Moments later, the villagers had finished loading supplies into their underground stronghold and were awaiting the rise of the full moon while trying to get some sleep, hoping that the Mighty Oozaru would not appear tonight. The village leader was assembling benders and warriors to fight with; there were many Waterbenders, Earthbenders, and Firebenders who had traveled from their nation to aid the town, as well as non-benders from each country. They set up defenses all over the villages and placed lookouts for the leader to be alerted to the great ape's approach beforehand.

* * *

Late at night, inhabitants were waiting patiently inside their homes; some were sleeping while others huddled together in fear. Inside their place of refuge, Aang, and Gohan were snoozing soundly while Monk Gyatso was keeping watch. The Energybender then woke up and rubbed his eyes; he got up and moved to exit their hut. "Where are you going, young one?" Gyatso asked Gohan when he noticed him leaving. "I have to use the bathroom, I'll be right back," Gohan assured the monk. The monkey prince entered the restroom to do his business; when he was done he fixed himself and prepared to go back to his friends, when at that moment, the full moon had appeared. The moonlight had caught Gohan's attention, and he looked up, catching a glimpse of the full moon. _"Wow, I always forget how pretty the full moon is,"_ he thought. _"I could stare at it for hou..."_ His thoughts suddenly stopped, and his mind became blank as he continued to stare at the full moon. His eyes grew wide, his pupils changed from black to red, his heart began to beat faster, and his tail started twitching wildly. Suddenly, his teeth sharpened into fangs and his muscles expanded slightly while ripping through his clothes.

Gohan let out a bloodcurdling cry, his transformation taking a full swing. His body continued to expand as black fur grew from his body. His pupils disappeared and his eyes became entirely red, his ears became pointy, and his mouth grew into a muzzle. The young boy's body rose all the way toward the ceiling and continued to expand, cracking through the canopy.

"Sir, it's the full moon! Just like the in legend!" the village lieutenant called.

"Yes lieutenant, indeed it is about to begin," the village leader said. "This is the hour that we have prepared for!"

"Yes, sir!" the lieutenant agreed.

"Send out troops to escort all of the villagers to the underground bunker! Tell all the benders and warriors to get into their positions! We must protect our home at all cost!" the leader ordered.

"Yes, sir!" the lieutenant saluted.

Village troops began going into homes and escorting people out before leading them into their safe haven, while scouts remained positioned in watchtowers, keeping a lookout. Benders and armed warriors were preparing for battle. One of the troopers entered Gyatso and Aang's place. "Airbender, it's time to go!" he told them. "We'll be right with you," Gyatso replied. The soldier nodded before leaving to continue his job; the monk went over to his sleeping student and shook him lightly. "Aang, wake up. It's time for us to move," he said. Aang woke up and yawned. "Where's Gohan?" he asked when he saw that his friend wasn't present. "He had to use the bathroom; he'll catch up with us," Gyatso answered. "Now let's go, boy." The two Airbenders left their place of refuge and joined the multitude of people being led into the underground shelter. They both glanced over to the restroom where their third party was supposed to be before looking away. Suddenly, there was a loud noise of something crashing on the ground. Everyone turned around and became horrified when they saw that the giant beast they wanted to avoid was already in the village.

"Sir! Sir!" the lieutenant cried. "The Oozaru… it's in the village!"

"What?! How did it get in without being spotted?!" the leader questioned.

"No one knows, sir! But it's here!" the lieutenant responded.

"Tell the troops to finish getting the civilians to safety!" the leader ordered. "Get as many Earthbenders as possible and have them form a barrier around the beast!"

"Yes sir!" the soldier obeyed.

The Oozaru stood in the building that was the bathroom before jumping into the air and landing in the center of the village; it roared before smashing its fist into one of the empty buildings, causing it to crumble. People screamed in fear and started hastily running toward the shelter. The two Airbenders were lost in the crowd and became separated from each other. Many Earthbenders surrounded the monster and bent a massive stone wall around it, but the mighty beast just smashed his way out. "Ready the catapults!" the leader ordered. The ape went back to smashing buildings while the catapults were brought forth. Once they were set up and loaded, the leader yelled, "Fire at will!" and numerous boulders went flying into the sky before colliding with the Oozaru. The beast only roared in anger as it threw its fist forward and smashed one of the catapults. "Benders, attack now! Hit it with everything you've got! Soldiers, reload the catapults!" the Village leader instructed. Waterbenders came and launched a wave of water from wherever they could pull it out from in the village, Earthbenders tossed large chunks of the earth at the beast, and Firebenders shot enormous flames at it; all the attacks hit the ape continuously and simultaneously, but the monster countered by letting out a massive roar that created a shockwave that shattered some homes, destroyed the catapults, and blew all of the defenders of the village away.

"Sir, none of our attacks are doing any damage to it! What should we do?!" the lieutenant asked.

"Don't lose heart, my comrades! This is our duty, so we must see it through to the end!" the leader stated.

The Oozaru then opened its mouth and let out a beam of light; the blast flew over the protectors' heads and crashed into tall buildings. The explosion took out four homes and two watchtowers, and left a gigantic crater in the ground. All of the fighters stared at the monster in terror as it glared back at them and roared again; the village leader quickly pulled himself together and resumed giving orders. "Waterbenders, try to muzzle the beast! I want to make sure it can't use that strange breath of fire again! Earthbenders, see if you can restrain its limbs! Once it's immobilized, we'll attack it with unrelenting force! Firebenders, I want you to set that monster on fire! Make sure it burns! And everyone...!" He stopped speaking to look at the full moon in despair. "Better pray to the spirits, we might be joining them soon enough."

Aang got up and looked toward the Mighty Oozaru; he started shaking in fear as it continued to attack the people of the village. He then spotted the damaged bathroom building and thought, _"Gohan must still be in there! He's probably hiding from the monster; I've got to help him!"_ The young monk ran over to where the chaos was taking place while Gyatso had made it out of the crowd and looked around for his pupil. "Aang! Aang!" he called, but he got no answer. He then saw Aang running toward the battlefield and cried, "Aang, stop! Come back!" before rushing after his disciple.

The battle raged on as the village began to catch fire. Waterbenders used the last of their water to create an ice muzzle and bend it around the Oozaru's mouth, preventing it from roaring or firing attacks. Earthbenders had bound its feet to the floor and were trying to do the same to its arms, but the Oozaru swung its tail at them, knocking them away as it broke its restrains. Firebenders were tossing flames at it, but the beast used its arms to block them. It then grabbed one of the soldiers with its massive right hand and began to crush him. The warrior screamed in pain, and the monster threw him into a pile of rubble. The ape them punched the ground and picked up a massive chunk of the earth; it tossed the rock at the warriors, who ran in different directions to evade it. Since the Oozaru could not roar with the ice muzzle, it started pounding its fists against its chest.

Aang ran past the crowd and made his way to the battlefield; he quickly hid behind one of the damaged homes to avoid being spotted. He then looked over at the wrecked bathroom and thought, _"I gotta get to Gohan!"_ He continued his path to where his friend was; some of the soldiers saw Aang trying to slip past the beast and the leader ordered them. "Get that child to safety immediately!" However, the Oozaru saw Aang and glared at him. He threw his left fist at the young Airbender, but before it could strike him, it was hit in the face by a fireball, making it miss its target just as he was grabbed by Gyatso and hidden. The heat from the fireball managed to melt some of the ice muzzle and crack apart the rest, freeing its mouth. It grasped its face and stepped back a bit. "I think that did it, sir!" the lieutenant noted. The monster roared again before smashing both fists on the ground, creating an earthquake that was too strong even for the Earthbenders. Gyatso remained hidden with Aang as he spoke to him. "What were you thinking, child?!" he asked. "How could you be so reckless?! I taught you better than that!"

Aang looked away in shame before saying, "I'm sorry, Gyatso, but Gohan is still trapped in that building. He needs my help!" he pleaded. "He's my friend, and I have to help him!" The monk sighed before saying, "Very well, let's go get your friend." The two Airbenders ran toward the latrine just as the Oozaru turned toward their destination and opened its mouth; it fired another gack beam at the loo, destroying it entirely. Aang and Gyatso stared at the place where the bathroom once was in shock; logic told them that their friend was definitely dead, but what sold it was that among the wreckage was Gohan's sword, shattered into 3 pieces, and his clothes, torn to shreds. The Oozaru faced the sky and fired multiple energy blasts towards the heavens; the blasts came raining down and started new fires with the beast in the center of it, pounding its chest again. Gyatso managed to protect himself and Aang from the attacks by creating an air dome. The monk looked at his broken-hearted pupil with pity; he placed his hand on the crying boy's shoulder and said, "I'm sorry Aang, but we can't stay here. We have to escape now while we can!" The boy continued to cry until he stopped as his eyes started glowing white.

"Retreat! Retreat!" the village leader ordered. The fighters struggled to run away; some of them were injured from the battle, so they were moving much slower than their comrades. The lieutenant stumbled and fell to the ground, and his left leg was then squashed under chunks of stone that went flying from the destruction caused by the great ape. The soldier cried out in pain, which caught the village leader's attention; he rushed back to his second-in-command and heaved the rubble off him. "J-Just go on without me sir! Just go!" the lieutenant insisted. "A good leader never leaves a man behind!" the leader stated as he picked up his follower. The two hurried to safety, but were stopped when they saw the Oozaru looming over them; the beast opened its mouth at them, and prepared to fire another energy attack. The chief and lieutenant closed their eyes as they waited to die, before the beam could be launched, a strong gust of wind slapped the Oozaru in the face, causing it to fire its attack elsewhere. The beast looked over to where his attacker was and spotted little Aang with glowing white eyes.

"You monster! I'm gonna make you pay for all that you've done!" the Airbender declared. The air around him started to build up until the young monk was covered by a dust tornado. "Aang," Gyatso said in shock as he felt the power his pupil was unleashing, and when the tornado ceased, Aang was gone and in his place stood an elderly man with white hair and a long white beard, dressed in a Fire Nation robe and the fire prince's crown. "Avatar Roku!" Gyatso exclaimed as he stared at the man in awe. The old Avatar turned toward the Airbender and looked at him with his glowing white eyes before smiling. "Hello Gyatso, long time no see, my friend," he said before turning back toward the beast; the Oozaru fired a beam at Aang's predecessor, but the experienced Avatar created an air dome to protect him and Gyatso. "I didn't think I'd have to be this world's Avatar again, but it seems I am still needed," Roku observed. "Tonight, the Wrath of the Oozaru ends!" he declared as he bent a giant column of earth that struck the great ape in the jaw, knocking it flat on its back.

"Gyatso, we can't allow this beast to destroy this town any further, so I'm gonna lead it away from the village!" Roku informed him. "I want you to help get the villagers to safety!"

The Air Nomad nodded to his deceased friend, and Roku created an air vortex just as the beast rose to its feet. Roku quickly struck it in the face with a fire attack; it roared in pain before jumping to attack Roku. The old Avatar swerved on his tornado and sailed toward the village gate. The Oozaru jumped from place to place as it tried to catch its prey. Roku then sailed over the village gate and landed on the ground to create a pillar of earth to ride on. The Oozaru smashed through the barrier and continued to pursue the Avatar. Roku led the beast all the way to a waterfall within the forest before stopping to face him. The great ape landed right in front of Roku and glared at him; he then reached for the Avatar, but Roku launched himself to its face with Earthbending and struck it once again with Firebending. Roku didn't stop blasting the beast's face with Firebending until he was struck from the sky by the Oozaru's fist.

The Avatar quickly used Airbending to catch himself. He then created two pillars of earth from the ground with the great ape in between them. Roku clamped his hands together, moving the earth pillars closer to the monster, trying to squash in a giant rock sandwich. The Oozaru spread its arms out to stop the stone walls from crushing him. Roku struggled to keep the pillars in position while the Oozaru struggled to hold them back. Eventually, the earth columns crumbled from the pressures the two opponents were applying to them, and the monster roared with great force, launching the past Avatar into the water. The Ape roared while pounding its chest with its fists. Suddenly the water from the lake began to rise; Avatar Roku stood atop a water vortex as he bent a giant tidal wave at the Oozaru. The water pushed the Oozaru back a bit before swirling around its entire body and encasing in ice. At first, it looked like the monster was defeated, but the ice prison started to crack before shattering completely, with the Oozaru being free. Roku created multiple ice and rock spikes and launched them at the Oozaru. The great ape shielded its face from the spiked attacks. It then roared again as it tried to swat the Avatar out of the sky.

The Oozaru finally got his prey when he grabbed Roku with its right paw; he then put his left paw on his right one and started to crush the Avatar to death. Roku acted quickly by emitting fire his hands, hoping the beast would release him to avoid getting burned, but the ape held on tight as it continued to apply pressure. The old Avatar then created a gale sphere around himself, protecting him from the Oozaru's deadly grip; the Oozaru was persistent in its attempt to crush its prey, but the old man held firm. Sweat started to slide down Roku's face as he gritted his teeth from the strain of fighting against the Oozaru's strength; the monster opened its mouth and fired an energy beam at the Avatar in the air dome, blasting him several feet away in the forest. The monster roared again, thinking it was victorious, when Roku suddenly jumped into the air and descended toward the earth, slamming his fist against the ground. The surface began to split apart as a deep trench was dug into the soil. Roku then rose on an earth pillar as he raised his hands high, pulling out large portions of Magma from within the earth's core. Roku then condensed the magma into balls of heat; he thrust his hands at the beast, hurling the magma orbs at it.

The Oozaru felt a surge of pain when the magma balls pelted its fur; it held its massive arms to defend itself from the raging hot attacks. Roku continued to pound the beast with his magma bombs, until its body was smoking and its fur was singed. Roku then used the last bits of magma to create a fist and then hurled it at the monster. The Oozaru was pushed back more, causing it to dig its feet into the dirt. The beast countered by opening its mouth as wide as it could, and letting out a massive energy attack. The beam soared through the air toward the old Avatar. "That trick's not gonna work on me anymore, beast!" Roku declared as he held up his hands. The blast stopped right at the palms of the Master of all Elements; Roku struggled to control the attack, his arms threatening to give out from the strain of the attack. The Oozaru wasn't finished as it fired more Ki attacks at its opponent, but they all stopped at the Avatar's hands. Finally, Roku gave a mighty yell as he launched the multiple energy attacks back at the Oozaru. The attacks hit the beast dead-on, consuming it in a massive explosion.

Back in the village, Gyatso was guiding children toward the entrance of the underground shelter; suddenly, the town was struck by a massive gale force. All of the villagers covered their faces to shield themselves. The wind was so great that it blew out the rest of fire in the village. When the wind died down, everyone could see the light from the explosion before it turned into a cloud of smoke. "Roku," Gyatso muttered. The Air Nomad brought out his glider staff, opened it up, and ascended to skies to fly toward the battlefield.

When the smoke cleared, Roku stood on his stone pillar taking heavy breaths while the Mighty Oozaru was lying flat on its back. The fur on its arms and legs were burned, its chest had a large burned mark, and its forehead was bleeding as well as its mouth. The Wrath of the Mighty Oozaru had ended. Roku sighed in relief, and when he did, the stone started to crumble. It fell to pieces, causing the retired Avatar to fall to the ground; he created an air vortex to slow down his descent. Once he touched the field, he slowly approached the downed beast. Roku stared at it for a few minutes before pulling more magma from the earth's core. He shaped them into two spears and raised them above the beast; one was near its head, and one at its heart. He slowly raised his hand as he prepared to finish off the creature. Before he could strike, someone shouted, "Avatar Roku!" The old Avatar looked up to see Gyatso landing beside him. "What are you doing?!" he asked his old friend.

"I'm ending this threat once and for all!" Roku answered.

"You're going to kill it, aren't you?" Gyatso asked. Roku gave no answer as he held a neutral expression. "I know it's your duty to protect the world, but killing a creature that is a part of it isn't right."

"This is a monster, Gyatso! It's been doing nothing but causing pain and misery wherever it goes!" Roku argued. "It must be stopped for good!"

"But all life is sacred! Even this creature's life is precious, you can't just end it!" Gyatso pleaded. "There has to be another way."

"There is no other way!" Roku shouted. "This is just like the time where I had a chance to save this world from a war that is soon to come! I could've ended it before it could even begin, but I let my own personal feelings blind me from killing Sozin, only for him to not make that same mistake with me! I cannot make that mistake again! I must end this threat now!"

With nothing more to say, Roku brought his hand down, bending the spikes to impale the beast. At the last second, two energy blasts came out of nowhere and destroyed the magma spears before they could strike the Oozaru. "What was that?!" Roku demanded. "Look!" Gyatso cried as he pointed above the great ape. Standing on the air right above the monster were two beings. The first one had spiky black hair in the shape of the leaves of a palm tree, wearing an orange gi. The 2nd person was a child with green skin, pointy ears, and antennas, wearing a red and white robe with the symbol that meant "Kami." The newcomers descended from the sky and landed in front of the benders. "Who are you?!" Roku asked.

"My name is Goku, and I can't allow you to kill him!" the 1st man announced.

"Him? You talk like it's a person," Gyatso stated.

"He is a person," Goku revealed.

"He is a vicious monster!" Roku argued.

"No, he's not! He's just a boy..." Goku said as he formed an energy disk in his right hand and tossed it at the Oozaru's tail, slicing it clean off. "…And he's my son!" The two benders stared at Goku in shock while the Oozaru began to change; its body decreased in size as its fur disappeared. Its pupils came back, and its fangs disappeared. The great ape groaned one last time before it finished changing back into Gohan.

"How is this possible?!" Roku questioned as he and Gyatso stared at the boy in awe.

"It is an ability passed down from our family," Goku replied. "People like us are born with tails that allow us to transform into giant destructive apes during the full moon. However, if we cannot control this transformation, then our instincts tend to take over, forcing us to destroy everything in our path. And when morning comes, we can never remember what we've done." Goku looked over to his son, feeling one emotion: guilt. "Ever since his transformation began, I've been keeping an eye on him. Doing what I can to minimize the amount of damage he could cause. I should've cut off his tail sooner, but I wanted him to grow stronger with it. I didn't consider the risk; please do not blame him for the pain he's caused. As his fathter, he is my responsibilty and his faults are mine to bear." The Saiyan bowed humbly to the men.

The benders, understanding what Goku was saying, nodded in agreement to spare the boy's life; after all, he was just as innocent as the people he attacked, more or less. Goku looked at the green-skinned child and nodded; the kid walked over to Gohan, placed his hands on him, and started channeling energy. Gohan's injuries rapidly began healing until they were finally gone. "Since my work here is done, I will return to the spirit world once again," Roku said. "Whatever is to become of this child, I hope he will help bring peace to the world rather than destroy it. Goodbye Gyatso, my friend." And with that, Avatar Roku disappeared in an air vortex, turning back into the little Airbender; the glow in as Aang's eyes faded and he quickly passed out. The green kid (Dende) went over to the boy and healed him as well.

"So, what happens now?" Gyatso wondered.

"We have made it so that my son will no longer transform into the great ape until further notice, but I can no longer come to this world and keep an eye on him," Goku answered. "I do not want him to be alone anymore, so I ask that you look after him for me."

"You wish for me to look after your son?" Gyatso inquired.

"I know I am asking a lot, especially after the destruction you've seen him cause and considering we've just met, but my son is young, and he is not the only one of his kind," Goku said.

"An Energybender?" the monk asked.

"A warrior born with great hidden reserves," Goku corrected. "I feel that if he is to reach his full potential and embrace his destiny, then he must be guided. Monks are known to be some of the wisest people in this world, so I am confident that you're the best opportunity my son has to have a life worth living."

Gyatso started at young Gohan. He still remembered that this child was the rampaging beast that caused so much havoc, but as he continued to gaze at the child, he began to realize something. Gohan was just a young boy gifted with incredible power, power that could be used in any way depending on how the wielder was guided; power that could even change the outcome of the entire world. _"This child...is just like Aang!"_ he thought. Aang was the Avatar, and he was destined to master all four elements in order to maintain the balance of this world, but he can never do it without someone to teach him, someone to guide him, someone to be there for him when he really needed that person. If this Gohan was the same, then it wouldn't be wise to leave the child to face the world alone. Gyatso sighed before replying, "Alright Goku, I'll look after your son."

Goku smiled before he looked over to Dende, who had just finished healing both boys and materializing new clothes for Gohan. "Seeing those boys together kinda reminds me of my classmate and I when we were younger. I hope those two can be good friends like we were," Goku said. "Gyatso, please do all that you can to help my son become a strong person."

"You have my word," Gyatso agreed.

Goku bowed to the Monk before turning to Dende. "Let's get going, Dende," he told him. The green kid nodded in response. Goku then approached his son and patted him on the head. "Take care, Gohan. Make lots of friends, enjoy life to the fullest, become a strong warrior, and make me proud. Goodbye, my son." Goku and Dende then walked away before disappearing in a flash of light that shot upward. Gyatso picked up the boys and carried them both back toward the village.

* * *

The next morning...

Gohan woke up with a small headache. He sat up and looked at the sky. _"Morning already? When did I fall asleep?"_ he wondered. He then noticed some of the damage done to the village from inside his hut. _"What happened to the village? Did I miss seeing the Oozaru again?"_

"Ah, you're awake," Gyatso noticed. The Monk entered the hut, carrying plates of fruit. "The villagers prepared a meal for us. I hope you're hungry," he said as he placed the food in front of the spiky-haired boy. Gohan's stomach growled, so he decided to dig in immediately. After he finished eating, Gohan had asked the monk what happened to the village; Gyatso merely assured him, "Don't worry, child. The Oozaru did attack, but the people managed to survive the night. Some were injured, but no one was killed. Everyone's alright." Gohan nodded in acceptance. Just then, Aang started to wake up; the first thing he saw was that Gohan was sitting right next to him. Overjoyed, the young monk embraced the Energybender. Gyatso had told Aang that Gohan wasn't in the restroom when the beast attacked, that he must've wandered into the forest and hid there until the ape had left. Gohan wasn't sure what to think about Gyatso told them, but decided to believe it since he couldn't remember anything after he saw the full moon. Gyatso had announced that Gohan would be accompanying him and Aang back to the Southern Air Temple. Aang was glad about this, but Gohan was a bit nervous; he wasn't sure if he would be accepted into the Air Nation since he wasn't an Airbender.

After Gyatso promised Gohan that he would definitely be allowed to stay even if he was an Energybender, Gohan decided that he would go back with the monks to their temple. After resting for three days, the travelers journeyed back to the Southern Air Temple; they made it there a week later, and once they arrived, all the kids had welcomed Gohan with open arms. As Aang showed Gohan around the temple, Gyatso spoke to the other monks about the Energybender. When the Grand Monk asked to see the boy, Gyatso presented Gohan to him; he said he sensed great power inside Gohan, one that could help bring about balance, especially with the Energybenders returning to the world.

Even since then, Gohan and Aang had spent their entire lives together. They trained together, learned together, and explored the world together. Their powers grew over the years, as did they with the many things they did, like going to Omashu to see Bumi, finding a dragon egg in the woods with their friend Kuzon, rescuing Icarus and groups of animals from a forest fire, finding the Z Sword, celebrating Aang's graduation to Airbending master, all to the point where Aang was told that he was the Avatar. It was at that moment that their destinies became clear to them, as the two were now best friends and brothers in arms. Their bond became unbreakable, and their adventures will only continue as they travel the world with their new family, making new friends and new adversaries, growing stronger until the day where they can face their destinies head-on.

End.

 **A/N: Done! And now the origin for Gohan and Aang has been revealed! Sorry if this came much later than you'd like, but I was a little slow in writing this chapter, and I got lazy after a while, almost lost my motive for Five Elements. Anyway, next is the origin of Trunks, where we'll get to see how he came to live with the Fire Nation royal family. After that, we're moving onto season 2 of Five Elements! Thank you for waiting this long; hope I'm still sparking your interest in this story. TTFN AntiHero out! P.S. Sorry for the crappy ending, it was the best I could think of.**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Ok, first, I know the next chapter was supposed to be Trunks' origin story, but for some reason, I just couldn't get it down; it's like something was off about it when I was typing it, so I had to skip it until could figure it out. Sorry to those who waited so long for the backstory. I'll try to see if I can make it work as soon as possible, but until then, try to enjoy the chapters that I'm writing in place of it. Now, it's time to officially begin the 2** **nd** **season of Five Elements; please forgive me and I hope this doesn't stop you from continuing to read my story. Now let's get on to the real chapter!**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own Dragon Ball Z or Avatar the Legend of Aang**

 **Chapter 22 – The Avatar State**

The Gang was asleep on the water tribe boats as they sailed across the ocean. The Avatar was having a strange dream; he wandered through the ruins of the Southern Air Temple. He then entered the room where he found Monk Gyatso's corpse, only this time, there was another him in the room kneeling before their deceased master. The 2nd Aang turned around and Aang could see his eyes and tattoos glowing while his face held anger, courtesy of the Avatar state. Aang gasped before he felt a strong wind current, and the scene changed to where Gohan, Katara, and Sokka were witnessing Aang generate a massive windstorm. Avatar state Aang slammed his hands together, causing a strong gale force to blow the real Aang away. The monk suddenly found himself in the fire temple where he first contacted his predecessor. The Sanctuary doors opened and in the entrance stood Avatar state Aang with a mean look; he let out a breath of fire below before swinging his hand to strike Aang. The floor split apart and Aang fell through it before landing on a fire navy ship. He looked and saw the Ocean monster approaching the ship; the Avatar state him inside the water being swung his hand, commanding the spirit to strike the ship.

Aang woke up with a gasp and started breathing heavily, his friends still soundly asleep. The Airbender got out of his hammock and started to exit the boat. "Aang?" Katara spoke as she woke up and saw her friend climbing up the ladder. She quickly joined him on the deck as he stared out into the ocean. "Do you wanna talk about?" she asked him.

"Nah, just a nightmare," Aang assured her. Although she didn't push him to do so, he started talking anyway. "I was in the Avatar state, but I was outside my body watching myself. It was scary. _I_ was scary." The Waterbender laced her hand on the monk's shoulder to comfort him.

The next morning, the Gang was ready to depart from the water tribe boat. Master Pakku and his crew stood in front of the Gang to address them while Beat and Note were waiting by the side. The old Waterbender held a bag of items to offer to the teens; the first was his female student. "Katara, I want you to have this," he said as he brought out a necklace that had a small Water Tribe veil of water at the end of it. "This amulet contains water from the Spirit Oasis. The water has unique properties. Don't lose it," he instructed her before smiling.

Katara accepted the gift and thanked her mentor. "Thank you, Master Pakku." She gave him a small hug before going to Appa.

Next was the Avatar. "Aang, these scrolls will help you master waterbending, but remember they're no substitute for a real master," Pakku told the boy. Aang looked at Katara before turning back to his master and bowing in gratitude.

After him was the Z Fighter. "Gohan, do you know what this is?" Pakku asked him as he pulled out a gold sphere with 2 stars in it.

Gohan's eyes widened when he realized what that orb was. "A Dragon ball!" he exclaimed. "But how?"

"As you might already know this orb possesses a special type of energy," Pakku explained. "We believe that since you're an Energybender, you might be able to uncover its secrets, especially since Note told the Chief that you have one similar to it. He requested that we give this to you." The old master placed the sphere in the boy's hand.

"Thank you," Gohan said gratefully as he bowed before turning away.

Last was the Water Tribesman. "Sokka." The teen smiled as he stepped toward the Water master. "Take care, son," Pakku bid him farewell before patting his arm, causing Sokka's face to turn embarrassed and depressed as he turned to climb aboard the sky bison.

At the side, Gohan was speaking to Beat and Note. "You sure you two don't want to come with us?" he inquired.

"We appreciate the offer, Gohan, but like we said before we want to do this on our own," Beat answered.

"Yeah, we want to go someplace where we're not members of the Fire Nation or the Water Tribe," Note added. "Just two friends traveling the world together."

Gohan nodded. "Alright then, take care of yourselves," he told them before they ascended to the air and flew off to start their own adventure. He turned toward his dragon and climbed onto his back.

"Fly straight to the Earth Kingdom base to the east of here," Master Pakku instructed the teens. "General Fong will provide you with an escort to Omashu. There you'll be safe to begin your earthbending training with King Bumi."

"Yip, yip!" Aang commanded Appa to fly, and the sky bison and the dragon took off immediately.

"Say hi to Gran Gran for me!" Katara called out to her master.

* * *

Elsewhere in one of the Earth Kingdom colonies, General Iroh, Prince Zuko, Prince Trunks, and former Commander Brody had taken refuge in the village by the waterfall. The old General was getting a massage from two attendants. "Aaahhh... this is what I've been missing. Who knew floating on a piece of driftwood for three weeks with no food or water and sea vultures waiting to pluck out your liver could make one so tense?" Iroh asked rhetorically as he felt so relaxed. He looked over to his side where he saw his pupils who were sulking; both their faces were concealed by a straw hat. The fire master got up and went to sit by them, knowing why they were so down. "I see. It's the anniversary, isn't it?"

"Three years ago today was the day we were banished. We lost it all, and I want it back!" Zuko declared. "I want the Avatar, I want my honor, I want my throne. I want my father not to think I'm worthless."

"I'm sure he doesn't! Why would he banish you if he didn't care?" Iroh tried to comfort his nephew, but Zuko just got up and walked away, making Iroh question what he said. "Er…that came out wrong, didn't it?"

"Actually, that came out right, you just didn't finish it," Brody taunted, his body covered in bandages as he was still recovering from his fight against Gohan. "Why would he banish them if he didn't care?! Because he doesn't care! It must be really hard for you guys; no family, no honor, and no reason to continue living other than to fail again!"

"Look who's talking!" Trunks retorted. "You went from Lieutenant to Commander and all you've accomplished is taken serious beatings from a kid, losing the Avatar even more than we have, and failing to take the North Pole with your Admiral before he died! If you return to the Fire Nation, you'll be disgraced and shamed! No one will see you as anything more than failure, not even your father!"

"Watch it, pretty boy, I can still beat you into the ground!" Brody warned him.

"In your current condition, I don't think so!" Trunks countered.

"Boys, boys, calm down," Iroh said, trying to diffuse the situation. "We all want the same thing here: to go home."

"Except I can go home anytime I want, while the banished Princes cannot!" Brody taunted, making Trunks glare at him before getting up to leave.

* * *

Meanwhile out at sea, a warship much bigger than the one normally used sailed toward the cherry blossom town. Onboard were several Fire Nation soldiers wearing red armor and helmets standing in two rows; the soldiers began to bow as four servants exited the ship's cabin, lifting a carriage. The four lifters placed the carriage down and two of them pulled open the curtain, revealing the Fire Nation prodigy: Princess Azula. The daughter of Ozai stepped out of her carriage and held up her hand, gesturing her men to rise while she eyed them cautiously. "My brother, Trunks, and my uncle have disgraced the Fire Lord and brought shame on all of us," she spoke to her soldiers as she walked between them. "You may have mixed feelings about attacking members of the royal family; I understand. But I assure you, if you hesitate, I will _not_ hesitate to bring you down. Dismissed."

The soldiers left the princess as her captain approached her. "Princess, I'm afraid the tides will not allow us to bring the ship in to port before nightfall." he reported.

"I'm sorry, Captain, but I do not know much about the tides. Can you explain something to me?" Azula asked while turning to the captain.

"Of course, your Highness," the captain answered.

"Do the tides command this ship?" she inquired.

"Uh... I'm afraid I do not understand," the captain confessed.

"You said the tides would not _allow_ us to bring the ship in. Do the tides command this ship?" she repeated her question.

The captain glanced at Azula "No, Princess," he replied uneasily.

"And if I were to have you thrown overboard, would the tides think twice about smashing you against the rocky shore?" Azula questioned him.

The fire captain gulped before looking down in shame. "No, Princess."

"Well then, maybe you should worry less about the tides, who've already made up their mind about killing you, and worry more about me, who's still mulling it over," she advised him while pushing at some strands of her hair before facing him.

"I'll pull us in," the captain assured as he bowed to Azula and quickly left. The Princess glared at her captain as he left.

"Jeez, what's got him so worked up?" asked a voice from inside the cabin. Azula turned to the chamber, where a blue-haired girl about her age stepped out. The girl was wearing a red undershirt that stopped just above her stomach, a gold battle jacket, black pants, red shoes like Azula's, and red bandages wrapped around her hands to her wrist. This was Princess Azula's best friend and fellow princess, Bulla. "Heard your speech, or was it a threat?" she questioned.

"A warning," Azula answered simply.

"Right, because fear works better than encouragement," Bulla agreed. "Do you think they'll be any problems on this mission?"

"Unless that captain slips up again, capturing our family members shouldn't be difficult," Azula replied. "I refuse to return to the Fire Nation as a failure like my brother will."

"About that, are you really okay with attacking your own family members?" Bulla asked. "You warned your crew about hesitating against Zuko and Iroh, but can you really do as you say?"

The Fire Princess turned to her friend. "We are in the middle of war, and our nation is supposed to rise as the strongest in the world. Feelings and emotions are a weakness that must be snuffed out, even if that weakness comes from family," Azula said before she asked, "Which brings me to a question of my own: do you intend on holding back if you have to fight your brother?"

"I should be asking you that, I know how you felt about him," Bulla retorted. "Can you really just toss him in prison to rot?"

Azula closed her eyes, showing slight regret before reopening them and putting on her emotionless face. "Like I said, feelings are a weakness. Trunks is a wanted man now, so if he will not surrender, then I will take him down hard!" She then smirked at her fellow princess. "Unless of course, you take him out first."

"Don't worry, I can handle my big brother," Bulla assured as the two Princesses stared out at the sea.

* * *

With the Gang, Appa and Icarus were flying high in the sky when the Water tribesman spotted something and shouted, "There it is!" as he pointed to an Earth Kingdom fortress. The teens landed inside the stronghold where they were greeted by a man with a big brown beard and wearing Earth Kingdom armor, along with several earth warriors. When the Gang got off their flying beasts, Sokka started stretching, Aang was rubbing his rear, Katara was unloading their things, and Gohan was feeding Icarus. The bearded man stepped toward the young travelers. "Welcome, Avatar Aang!" the man graciously greeted the Gang; he and his men bowed to them before the man introduced himself. "I am General Fong. And welcome to all of you, great heroes! Appa, Momo, brave Sokka, the mighty Katara, and strong Gohan."

"Mighty Katara?" I like that," the Waterbender admitted.

"I guess I am pretty strong," Gohan said.

The teens then heard a loud noise coming from behind them; they turned around and saw four Earthbenders launching green orbs into the sky where they exploded into fireworks. The Gang gazed with amazement. "Not bad, not bad," Sokka noted.

Inside the General's chamber, Gohan, Aang, Katara, and Sokka sat in the center on a carpet on the floor while General Fong sat at his desk with a large map of the four nations right behind him. "Avatar Aang, we were all amazed at the stories of how you singlehandedly wiped out an entire Fire Navy fleet at the North Pole," the General stated as he stroked his beard. "I can't imagine what it feels like to wield such devastating power. It's such an awesome responsibility."

"I try not to think about it too much," Aang said, being modest.

The General smiled at the monk before announcing, "Avatar... you're ready to face the Fire Lord now."

"What? No, I'm not!" Aang exclaimed with a terrified expression.

"Aang still needs to master all four elements," Katara argued.

"Right now, he's only got air and water," Gohan added. "He still needs to learn earth and fire."

"Why?" General Fong asked anxiously. "With the kind of power he possesses—power with enough force to destroy hundreds of battleships in a matter of minutes—he could defeat the Fire Lord now!"

"But, sir, the thing is, Aang can only do those things when he's in the Avatar State," Sokka voiced.

"See, it's this special state where—" Aang tried to explain before he was interrupted.

"I'm well aware!" the General exclaimed harshly. "Your eyes and tattoos glow and you're able to summon unbelievable power." Fong walked over to his large map as he continued to speak; he pointed to his base and trailed his finger to the Fire Nation capital. "Without you, we'd be slaughtered before we even reach their shores. But with you leading the way, as the ultimate weapon, we could cut a swath right through to the heart of the Fire Nation!"

Aang was still unsure about this. "Right... but I don't know how to get in or out of the Avatar State, much less what to do once I'm there," he confessed.

The General turned back to the Gang and declared, "So it's decided, then. I'll help you figure out how to get into the Avatar State, and then you'll face your destiny."

The Gang stood up with Sokka and Aang looking speechless, while Katara and Gohan seemed upset. "Sorry sir, but you can't get Aang to face the Fire Lord before he feels he's ready, even if you help him control the Avatar State!" Gohan argued.

"That's right! We already have a plan! Aang's going to pursue _his_ destiny _his_ way," Katara proclaimed.

"Well, while you take your time learning the elements, the war goes on," General Fong said. He then gestured to the window and asked Aang, "May I show you something?" The Earth General led Aang and Gohan to the window, where they saw many injured earth warriors going in and out of an orange-roofed building. "That's the infirmary," Fong explained. "And those soldiers are the lucky ones. They came back, but some didn't. Every day, the Fire Nation takes lives. People are _dying_ , Aang! You could end it, now!" the General urged him.

"Or, you could get yourself killed and force the world to wait another century for their savoir," Gohan argued. "And this time without a way to learn airbending!"

"With power of the Avatar State at his fingertips, there's no one who can stand a chance against him, not even the Fire Lord!" Fong assured. "Please, think about it." The Earth General walked off, but his words still played in the Avatar's head as he looked away in woe.

* * *

Back at sea, Azula's ship was still sailing to her family's current location. It was dusk, but the fire princesses were training intensely while being supervised by two elderly woman. The daughter of Ozai took a deep breath before she entered a lightning bending stance. She swung her arms around, channeling electricity through each movement; she then brought her fingers together before shooting out a stream of lightning from her left hand into the sky. When she stopped, her left fingers were smoking and a single strand of hair dangled in front of her face.

"Almost perfect," the 1st elder complimented.

"One hair out of place," the 2nd elder pointed out.

Azula glared at the single strand before moving it back in place. "Almost isn't good enough!" she exclaimed. Azula resumed her training and shot another bolt of lightning into the sky.

While this was going on, Bulla was trying to perform her own move; she spread out her hands and focused her ki into them. She then placed her hands together and pointed her hands upward. **"Final Dragon Flash!"** she shouted as she fired a massive energy beam. The blast swirled in the sky before taking the form of a ferocious non-winged dragon; it roared as it flew to the clouds. Almost like they could sense the energy, Iroh and Trunks woke up from their sleep and looked outside in worry.

* * *

Nighttime at the Earth Kingdom base, the Earth General was looking through some papers when the last Airbender entered his boardroom. "General Fong?" Aang called to get his attention.

"Come in, Aang," the General insisted warmly. "Have you thought about our discussion?"

The Avatar looked away in doubt before facing the General with resolution. "I'm in. I'll fight the Fire Lord," he declared. Moments later, Aang entered his room where his companions were waiting for him; Aang said nothing as he walked toward his bed and sat down. "I told the general I'd help him... by going into the Avatar state," he finally confessed.

Katara got up from her bed. "Aang, no. This is not the right way," she insisted.

"Why not? Remember when he took out the Fire Navy? He was incredible!" Sokka argued.

"There's a right way to do this. Practice, study, and discipline," Katara said.

"Or just glow it up and stop that Fire Lord," Sokka retorted.

The Water tribe girl got up and threw her hands in the air in frustration. "If you two meatheads want to throw away everything we've worked for, fine. Go ahead and glow it up!" she yelled as she stormed off.

"Katara, I'm just being realistic. I don't have time to do this the right way," Aang tried to reason with her, but his expression turned sad when she didn't respond to his plea. Gohan placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about Katara, she's just concerned for you, and so am I," Gohan told him. "I know your destiny is to defeat the Fire Lord and end this war, but you can't do by taking the shorter path and hoping you'll make it to the end. Mastering the elements is your duty, you can't neglect that just to acquire the Avatar State."

"But what if this is the only way I can end this war?! What if I can stop the Fire Lord just by going into the Avatar State and using its power?!" Aang questioned. "You guys don't know what it's like to have this amazing power and not want to use it to solve your problems!"

"Are you sure about that?" Gohan asked as he walked toward the room door. "You're not the only one with that kind of power, bro," he said before leaving. Aang and Sokka looked at each other in confusion.

The next morning, the Gang, General Fong, and another man were preparing their first attempt to help Aang enter the Avatar State. They gathered together beside a large waterfall in a canopy where Aang, General Fong, and the man were sitting at a small table with tea in front of them; the man mixed some herbs together before pouring a cup and handing it to the Avatar. "This rare chi-enhancing tea is a natural stimulant," the man explained. "In an ordinary warrior, it improves strength and energy ten-fold. In you, it may induce the Avatar state."

Aang accepted the tea and said, "Ten-fold energy, huh?" He then gulped down the whole cup and his friends watched attentively as Aang's eyebrow started twitching. Pretty soon, Aang was zooming around the place on an air scooter like a kid on a sugar rush. "Is it working, is it working? I can't tell! Somebody tell me if I'm in the Avatar state 'cause I don't have a good view of myself! Am I talking too loud?!" Aang asked in a high pitched voice.

"I guess he could _talk_ the Fire Lord to death," Sokka suggested as he looked bored while Katara crossed her arms and Fong stroked his beard. Aang finally stopped when he crashed into one of the pillars.

"Can I try some of that tea?" Gohan inquired. The Z Fighter was poured a cup and quickly drank it; his body immediately started vibrating and his face grew a wide smile as he felt his energy increase. "Ha ha ha! This power, I can feel it surging!" Gohan cried in excitement with the same high pitched voice as Aang before he shot through the roof and into the air where he began flying around like crazy.

Moving on, the Gang and the General attempted their second method in helping Aang enter the Avatar State at the entrance gate of the stronghold. The three teenage benders sat on the ground with General Fong standing behind them and Sokka standing in front of them. "Maybe I can shock you into the Avatar state," the Tribesman suggested. "I love surprises!" Aang said optimistically. Katara then covered his eyes for a second, blinding his view of her brother; when she removed her hands, Sokka's head hand been replaced with the head of the Lemur Bat. Momo screeched at the monk, making him flinch. "Aaahhh!" he screamed before checking the tattoos on his hands. "Still not glowing," he stated. Sokka then stumbled and fell to the ground with Momo still on him while General Fong stroked his beard before shaking his head in disappointment.

The Gang was then moved to a temple where the third attempt to activate the Avatar State would take place. Aang stood in the center wearing a large Earth Kingdom hat, a long Water Tribe cape, and a Fire Nation sash. Before him stood a priest who was conducting some ritual while his friends and the earth General waited by the side. "You are wearing a ceremonial piece of clothing from each of the bending nations. Now I will join the four elements into one!" the priest announced. He began by pouring water into a bowl. "Water!" Next he poured dirt into the bowl. "Earth!" Then he grabbed a lit torch and placed it in the bowl. "Fire!" And finally he used a fan to blow air in the bowl. "Air! Four elements become one!" The priest lifted up the elemental fusion and tossed it onto the Avatar; it splattered all over his body.

"This is just mud!" Aang stated.

"So…do you feel anything?" the priest asked inquisitively.

Aang's nose twitched and he held up a finger. His friends and the General became anxious until Aang sneezed, blowing all of the mud off of him and onto them; another attempt had failed. General Fong wiped the mud off his face and said, "We have to find a way," unwilling to give up.

* * *

Back at the bathhouse, General Iroh, Prince Trunks, and Prince Zuko had just returned from going out and Iroh was emptying his bag of seashells to gaze upon their beauty. "Look at these magnificent shells! I'll enjoy these keepsakes for years to come," Iroh exclaimed joyfully.

"We don't need any more useless things. You forget we have to carry everything ourselves now," Zuko reminded him.

"Come on, Zuko. I know things have been a bit rough for us, but there's nothing wrong with gathering a few souvenirs to commemorate our adventure," Trunks reasoned.

"Hello, brother. Uncle. Trunks," a voice greeted them. The men turned and saw Princess Azula sitting in a chair and holding a shell. To say that they were surprised to see her was an understatement.

"Princess Azula," Trunks exclaimed.

"What are you doing here?!" Zuko immediately asked in suspicion as he and Iroh glared at their relative.

"In my country, we exchange a pleasant 'hello' before asking questions," Azula chastised her brother before getting up to approach the men. "Have you become uncivilized so soon, Zuzu?"

"Don't call me that!" Zuko yelled angrily.

"To what do we owe this honor?" Iroh questioned.

Azula smirked before frowning at her family members. "Hmm... must be a family trait. Both of you so quick to get to the point," she spoke as she crushed the shell in her hand; this action caused Iroh to scowl at her.

Trunks then stepped forward, hoping to ease the tension, and bowed politely to the Princess. "Forgive us for not making you feel welcome, we weren't expecting any visitors so we're still a little surprised to see you here, Princess," he said as he rose up and smiled."It's been a long time Azula, but it is good to see you. You look well. Tell me, how is Bulla doing?"

Azula smiled back pleasantly at Trunks' greeting. "At least someone remembers their roots," she remarked, making Zuko and Iroh even angrier. "It's good to see you too, Trunks, and your sister is doing well last time I checked. But, you can decide that for yourself." She gestured toward the entrance to the bathhouse, and Princess Bulla came inside wearing a bright smile. The three guys were once surprised when they turned and saw Trunks' sister had come to see them alongside Zuko's sister.

"Hello, Iroh," she greeted as she bowed to the retired General. "It's nice to see you again, I've missed my father." She then went up and embraced old man.

"Hello, my dear, I have missed my daughter as well," Iroh replied as he returned the embrace. "You've grown quite a bit."

Bulla then let go of Iroh and approached Zuko. "Hey Zuko, long time, eh?" She didn't bother to hug him as she knew he wasn't the type. Zuko nodded to her but said nothing as she approached her brother. The two Energybenders stared at each other for a moment before Bulla finally spoke. "Hello, big brother, it's been a long time," she greeted and hugged him; the lavender-haired teen slowly returned the embrace.

"Yes it has, Bulla," Trunks said. "I see my little sister has changed over the years."

"So did my big brother," Bulla responded. "How have you been?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Trunks said. After a minute of awkward silence, Trunks suggested, "Both of you must be tired from your long trip. Why don't we all sit down and enjoy some refreshments?"

"Thank you for your hospitality, Trunks, but we've come with a message from home," Azula explained. "My father has changed his mind. Family is suddenly very important to him. He's heard rumors of plans to overthrow him— treacherous plots."As she spoke, Zuko's face expressed astonishment, Trunks' held uncertainty, and Iroh's held suspicion.

"This war has made the pressures of ruling a nation nearly unbearable, even for the Fire Lord," Bulla added. "With the Avatar slowly working to stop the Fire Nation, the world's hope grows by the day, and the more hope the world gains, the more doubt our people have in our leaders. Some have even questioned if Lord Ozai is the right person to lead us to victory. With more Energybenders siding with our enemies, and traitors in our midst being revealed over time, it's hard to know who you can truly trust."

"But in the end, you decide who you can trust because you know who that is," Trunks said.

Azula nodded. "Indeed, and the only ones you can truly trust… are family, which is why father has decided that we must be together in these times of trouble," she went on. Trunks' face became dubious about her words.

"I doubt Lord Ozai really sees a trio of failures as the family he can trust," the Prince commented.

Azula came up to the Z Fighter, placed her hand on his shoulder, and grasped his right hand. "I assure you, Trunks, he does, as do Bulla and I because we trust you." Her face then turned gentle as she looked away and gave her final message. "Father regrets your banishments. He wants you both back home." When none of the guys said anything, she looked back at them. "Did you hear us? You both should be happy. Excited. Grateful. We just gave you boys great news," she said to the teens.

"We understand that you find this hard to believe, but it's why we're here," Bulla added. "Fire Lord Ozai has requested that we bring you back home."

"I'm sure the boys just needs a moment to—" Iroh started to say before he was shut down.

"Don't interrupt, Uncle!" Azula yelled harshly before addressing the teens again. "You still haven't thanked us boys. We're not messengers. We didn't have to come all this way."

"Father regrets? He... wants me back?" Zuko mutters incredulously.

Trunks quickly got over his shock and spoke. "Thank you, ladies, but I think we need time to process this news."

"I can see that. We'll come to call on you tomorrow. Good evening," Azula dismissed before leaving.

Bulla followed after her, but stopped and turned back to the guys. "You guys should consider this opportunity. Azula may not admit it, but she does want her family back, and so do I." She then left the male benders to their thoughts.

* * *

Back at the Earth base, after the failed attempts to get Aang into the Avatar State, everyone decided to call it a day. Aang and Katara were standing by the wall talking. "Can we talk about something?" Katara asked the Airbender.

"Sure," Aang said.

"Do you remember when we were at the air temple and you found Monk Gyatso's skeleton?" she questioned but didn't wait for his answer. "It must have been so horrible and traumatic for you. I saw you get so upset that you weren't even you anymore. I'm not saying the Avatar state doesn't have incredible— and helpful power. But you have to understand, for the people who love you, watching you be in that much rage and pain is really scary."

Aang closed his eyes for a second before reopening them. "I'm really glad you told me that. But I still need to do this," he insisted.

"I don't understand," Katara confessed.

"No, you don't. Every day, more and more people die. I'm already a hundred years late," Aang explained. "Defeating the Fire Lord is the only way to stop this war. I have to try it."

"I can't watch you do this to yourself. I'm not coming tomorrow," she told him softly. "Good night," the Waterbender bid him before walking away.

"Good night," Aang replied sadly. He turned back to look out at the evening sky before saying, "I know you're there, Gohan." The Son of Goku stepped out and stood beside his brother. "How much did you hear?"

"Everything," Gohan answered. "I know you feel that you've already let the world down long enough, but this isn't the way to make up for it. The world's waited an entire century for you to stop the Fire Nation; it can afford to wait one more year."

"But what if it can't?!" Aang asked. "If I can somehow use the Avatar State to end the war in a snap, shouldn't I take that chance?!"

"Maybe, but what if this makes you believe you don't need to learn the other elements?" Gohan countered. "Or if this General tries to use your power for other purposes aside from stopping the Fire Lord? He's not interested in anything more than just acquiring your Avatar State. That's why he showed you the infirmary, to guilt you!"

"But he's still right, people are dying in this war!" Aang argued. "The Fire Lord isn't the only one responsible for the world's suffering; I am too because I wasn't there to stop him!"

"This is war, Aang, those soldiers know there's a risk of dying if they fight, but they do it because they want to protect their beloved nation!" Gohan said. "It's not your fault the war had gone this far! Besides, if anyone should be helping you to use the Avatar State, it should Avatar Roku or one of your past lives, not some desperate General who wants to rush you when you're not ready yet!" Gohan then sighed and placed his hand on the Air nomad's shoulder. "Katara's right, seeing you generating that much power in a state of fury is terrifying. And what's even worse is that you don't seem aware of your surroundings sometimes. I know you think this could help you end the war, but there is a possibility that you could just attack your allies rather than your enemies, and that would only end up hurting you more. None of us want to see you hurt." The Z Fighter then left his brother and went to bed.

* * *

Elsewhere, night had fallen once again. Prince Zuko was excitedly packing his things along with Prince Trunks who was still a little dubious about the news they received but was hopeful as well. General Iroh stood by the side pondering about this opportunity. "We're going home. After three long years, it's unbelievable!" Zuko exclaimed as he continued to pack.

"It is unbelievable. I have never known my brother to regret anything," Iroh commented.

"He certainly didn't regret disgracing or banishing us," Trunks stated.

"Didn't you guys hear Azula?" Zuko inquired. "Father's realized how important family is to him. He cares about me!"

"I care about you. And if Ozai wants you back... well, I think it may not be for the reasons you imagine," Iroh warned.

"You don't know how my father feels about me. You don't know anything," Zuko declared while turning away from his uncle.

"Zuko, I only meant that in our family, things are not always what they seem," Iroh said calmly but his attempt to ease his nephew failed when he lashed out at him.

"I think you are exactly what you seem: a lazy, mistrustful, shallow old man who has always been jealous of his brother," Zuko accused his uncle distastefully.

"Hey! That's uncalled for!" Trunks shouted.

The angry Prince turned toward his friend and jabbed a finger at him. "You're no better! You say you always have my back and that you're there for me yet you're always against my father!" Zuko yelled. "You act like the members of our family are different sides that you need to take each time. It's time for you to pick a side, Trunks, it's either you're with this family or against it!" Zuko then stormed off and his companions looked down in sadness.

* * *

In Aang's dream, the monk found himself onboard Zuko's fire navy ship battling the fire princes alongside Gohan. Suddenly, his Avatar State self shot out of the ocean using the water vortex. He jumped onto the boat and used the water to strike both Aang and Gohan, knocking them off the ship. The Avatar State then turned to face the princes, who attempted to retreat but were quickly struck down.

Aang suddenly woke up from the nightmare. He looked over to where his friends were sleeping. "Sokka, Gohan, wake up," he called to them.

"Wha…?" Sokka replied tiredly.

"What is it, Aang?" Gohan inquired.

"I don't think we should be trying to bring on the Avatar state," Aang confessed.

"You sure?" Sokka asked.

"Yes."

"Okay." Sokka shrugged.

"Wise decision, bro," Gohan complimented.

Aang looked mindful about something before asking, "Do you think the general will be mad?"

"What can he say? You're the Avatar. Who knows better than you?" Sokka answered before going back to sleep.

"Don't worry, Aang, he'll have to accept your decision; it's your destiny after all," Gohan told him. "Now get some sleep, 'cause as soon as you've spoken to General Fong, it's straight to Omashu for your Earthbending training." Gohan lay back down, as does Aang, and they both resumed sleeping.

* * *

The next morning, Prince Zuko walked down the stairs of the bathhouse with his luggage slung over his back, though he stopped for an instant and looked toward his sister's Fire navy ship. As he resumed walking, he stopped again when he heard someone calling to him. "Wait! Don't leave without us!" Iroh said as he and Trunks went to catch up with Zuko while carrying their own bags.

"Uncle, Trunks! You changed your minds!" Zuko exclaimed.

"Family sticks together, right?" Iroh asked rhetorically as he put his hand on his nephew's shoulder.

"I know which side I'm on," Trunks said. "It's your side, Zuko."

Zuko smiled and the three of them glanced toward the ship. "We're finally going home," Zuko stated before continuing down the stairs. Trunks and Iroh stayed back for a while and stared at the ship with suspicion.

* * *

At the Earth Kingdom stronghold, Aang, Gohan, and Sokka had gone to see the General; the Avatar stood in front of Fong's desk as he spoke to him while his companions stood at the side with two guards. "The thing is, I don't think we'll ever be able to trigger it on purpose," Aang finished saying. "So, I guess that's it."

"Sure I can't change your mind?" Fong questioned.

"I'm sure. I can only reach the Avatar state when I'm in genuine danger," Aang stated in depression.

The General looked away in disappointment before replying, "I see. I was afraid you'd say that." He then stomped his foot and earthbended his desk at the Airbender. "Aang!" Sokka cried before he was held back by two guards. "What are you…?" Gohan started to ask before he found himself pinned to the ceiling by an earth pillar. The desk continued to push Aang until both fell out the window. Aang screamed as he and the desk descended toward the ground at the bottom of the tower. Aang quickly softened his fall with his Airbending before rolling away as the rock desk smashed against the ground. The monk gazed up in shock as he saw the earth General standing at the window. "Men! Attack the Avatar!" Fong ordered as he pointed at the Air Nomad.

Aang's eyes widened in horror as he was quickly surrounded by four groups of earth soldiers. General Fong then jumped down and landed in front of Aang. "What are you doing?!" Aang questioned.

"I believe we are about to get results," Fong replied. Six Earthbenders levitated earth disks that resembled their symbol before tossing them at the Avatar. Using his swift movements, Aang avoided the first two that were rolled toward him before horizontally evading two more disks, one flying above and the other flying below him.

Aang landed on the ground and declared, "I am not your enemy! I won't fight you!" Four more earth disks were rolled toward him. He jumped to dodge them and landed on one of them. Another disk flew past and knocked away one of the disks, causing Aang to fall in between two that immediately closed together. Aang nimbly managed to enter the holes in the center, but then the two disks started rolling toward an earth guard with Aang inside. The soldier smashed the disks into dust, making Aang skid across the ground. The monk got up and found that he was still surrounded by earth soldiers.

Inside the tower, Sokka freed himself by kicking his guards and forcing them to release him. He ran over to the pillar holding Gohan, where the Z Fighter blasted the column to rubble and landed beside his friend. The two ran over to the window where they could see General Fong's men still attacking Aang. "Sokka, go get your sister! I'll meet you down there!" Gohan instructed before he jumped down the tower. He then fired two energy blasts at two Earthbenders, incapacitating them. Two more soldiers on bird mules charged at him with their spears ready, their intent to jab the Energybender, but he blocked their attacks with his sword and kicked both of them off their animals. Gohan tried to run to Aang's side, but he was quickly cut off by more soldiers. Aang dodged more stone disks before getting on his air scooter and swerving past more Earthbenders. Two of them chased after Aang on Ostrich horses, so Aang went up the wall with the soldiers in pursuit. The air scooter canceled out and the air nomad began running up the wall; the soldiers closed in on their target and attempted to jab him with their spears. Aang dodged their spears but caused himself to fall off the wall in the process.

Aang fell to the ground and the earth guards chased after him. Aang evaded the men again and landed in the center of one of the earth disks. General Fong earthbended the disk toward him with Aang still in the middle. "You can't run forever!" the General shouted at Aang.

"You can't fight forever!" Aang countered. Fong jumped and smashed the earth ring but Aang dodged him once again.

* * *

At the Fire navy ship, Princess Azula and Princess Bulla stood at the top of the ship's stairs with a few guards beside them while two lines of fire soldiers stood patiently at the bottom of the stairs as the travelers approached the ship. Iroh, Trunks, and Zuko walked past the soldiers with the first two benders eyeing them cautiously. The three men stopped at the stairs with the captain in front of them. Azula raised her arms to greet them. "Brothers, Uncle!" She and Bulla bowed to them and they returned the gesture. "Welcome. I'm so glad you decided to come." While bowing, Iroh and Trunks kept their eyes on the fire soldiers, who then filed in right behind them.

"Are we ready to depart, Your Highness?" the fire captain asked.

"Set our course for home, Captain," Azula ordered him happily.

"Home," Zuko whispered. The three passengers then climbed up the stairs with the captain leading them and yelling orders.

"You heard the princess! Raise the anchors! We're taking the prisoners ho—" The Captain stopped talking once he realized his mistake. The Princesses glared at the fire Captain for his mistake, and he began stammering in panic. "Your Highness... I..." He glanced back at the prisoners; Zuko eyes widened in shock while Trunks and Iroh looked toward the soldiers behind them. Iroh reacted first by backhanding one of the guards and kicking another one. Trunks fired a ki blast at a soldier, knocking him into the water, before dodging another one's fire blast and hand chopping him in the neck. The two continued to knock away the fire soldiers while Zuko tossed the Captain into the water and approached his sister.

"You lied to me!" he yelled, enflamed.

"Like I've never done that before," Azula said shamelessly. The Princesses turned away and walked onto the ship, leaving two Firebenders to attack Zuko; the son of Ozai deflected their fireballs and charged at them in fury.

* * *

Elsewhere, Aang continued to run from General Fong's relentless attacks. Inside their chamber, Katara sat on her bed with Momo lying on the ground, sleeping. The room began to quake from the battle. "I wonder what crazy thing they're trying now," she said to the Lemur, who simply resumed sleeping. The room shook again, and Katara grew more concerned. "Maybe we should just make sure Aang's okay." She got up from the bed and headed outside the tower; as she ran down the stairs, she saw her brother hurrying to get down as well. "What's going on?" she inquired.

"The General's gone crazy! He's trying to force Aang into the Avatar state!" Sokka replied. The two watched as Aang continued to evade the earth soldiers and Gohan took some out. Sokka tossed his boomerang at one soldier, knocking him out before he could strike Aang with an earth disk. Another soldier on an Ostrich horse chased Aang when the tip of his spear was suddenly cut off by a water whip from Katara. He stared at his broken weapon and was consequently knocked out by the Waterbender. "Good bird/horse thingy," Sokka tried to sweet talk the creature as he walked toward it; he then got on and started to ride.

Katara stood in the arena when she was suddenly surrounded by General Fong and his men. "Maybe you can avoid me, but she can't," the General said to the monk who was running up the tower. The Earthbenders used the disk to form a v shaped stone wall, preventing Katara from escaping anywhere unless she got through their leader. Katara attempted to defend herself by launching a water attack at the General, but he used the dirt to absorb it. He then used his bending to sink Katara into the ground to about her knees.

The Water tribe girl struggled but was completely immobilized. "I can't move!" she exclaimed.

"Don't hurt her!" Aang yelled before jumping down the tower and launching an air blast at Fong; he blocked it with an earth wall before sinking Katara to her waist.

"Katara! No!" Sokka cried as he charged at the General on the Ostrich horse. Fong sunk the beast's feet, causing the tribesman to fly off it and into an earth ring.

"Katara, hang on!" Gohan shouted as he raced to save her. General Fong hurled an earth column at the Z Fighter that pushed him away from his friend. Gohan struggled to push against it while Fong used one hand to control it while using the other hand to sink Katara deeper into the earth.

"Stop this! You have to let her go!" Aang pleaded.

Fong only frowned at him and replied, "You could save her if you were in the Avatar state!"

"I'm trying... I'm trying!" Aang told him in despair.

"Aang, I'm sinking!" Katara cried as she sunk to her armpits.

"I don't see glowing," Fong taunted Aang. Just as he was about to bury the Waterbender even more, he heard a mighty yell at his side. He looked over to see Gohan pushing the boulder back a bit before firing a Ki blast at the Earthbender. General Fong quickly raised a wall of earth to protect himself; however, that distraction gave Gohan enough time to get to Katara. "Grab my hand!" he instructed her. Katara took the boy's hand as Fong attempted to sink her in deeper. Gohan pulled on Katara's hand as she watched in fear; the Energybender started to unleash his power, his energy surrounding the both of them as Gohan slowly began to pull Katara out. "No!" Fong cried as he focused all of his energy on keeping Katara imprisoned, but Gohan continued to increase his ki as the ground around them started to crack. Eventually, Gohan screamed and with all his might, he managed to pull the Waterbender out of the ground. General Fong stared at the boy in shock while Aang quickly went over to his companions. The monk embraced the Waterbender as they were joined by her brother. Gohan then glared at the General and declared, "We're leaving, now!"

General Fong looked down in anger as his fist was trembling; the four teens turned to leave before the General suddenly raised his hands, levitating an enormous chunk of the earth into the air. His men followed his lead by raising numerous bits of the earth and mixing it with the General's. Fong's arms were shaking as he struggled to keep the massive piece of earth in the air; he glared at the teens, who could only stare back at him in horror. "No matter what it takes, I'll get you to enter the Avatar State!" Fong declared to Aang. "And I'll crush anyone who stands in my way!" Fong then lowered his arms, bending the boulder to plummet down onto the Gang. Acting quick, Gohan created a kiai that blew his companions away from the descending rock before raising his arms up and crossing them to defend himself. Aang, Katara, and Sokka could only watch in terror as their friend was crushed by the falling stone, the impact creating a shockwave that affected everyone in the arena. When the smoke cleared, they could see the boulder had shattered into many pieces, and lying right under the rubble, was the hand of the Son of Goku.

The Gang stared in shock as their friend's hand made no attempt to move. General Fong leveled his hands at the teens and asked, "Who's next?"Aang fell to his knees in despair and began to tremble; in that instant, his eyes and tattoos began glowing as he got up and glared at the earth General. Fong stared at the Avatar in disbelief before joyously shouting, "It worked. It worked!" Aang began generating a massive wind force which made everyone shield their faces; General Fong smirked before his expression changed to one of alarm. Aang swung his hand at the General, hitting him with a strong wind blast that knocked him onto his back before creating a dust vortex as he ascended into the sky.

* * *

Back at Azula's ship, Prince Zuko jumped onboard the boat, at the same time incapacitating two soldiers with fire attacks. He entered a fighting position while his sister had her back turned to him. Zuko created two fire daggers as the princess glanced at him with a smug look on her face. On the shore, General Iroh and Prince Trunks were still taking out fire soldiers. Trunks blasted two of them aside, dodged one before elbow bashing him, and palm struck one in the chest before jumping onto the boat. Iroh dodged a fire kick before knocking the soldier down with a fire blast; two more tried to blast Iroh, but he ducked and fire blasted both of them into the water. Another one threw a fireball at the old master but he was once again able to deflect the attack and restrain the soldier. "Trunks! Zuko! Let's go!" Iroh called to his pupils, tossing the guard into the sea before deflecting another one's attack and pushing him into the water.

On deck, Trunks encountered two more Firebenders; they launched a combined fire blast at him and he retaliated by quickly bringing out his blade and swinging it at them, creating a curved Ki blast that cut through the flames and knocked out both of the fire guards. Trunks then sheathed his weapon just as he sensed someone behind him; instinctively, he threw a punch at the one approaching, which turned out to be his little sister, who easily caught his fist. The siblings stared at each other before Trunks tried to punch her again. Bulla deflected his strike and attempted to kick him, but Trunks dodged her attack and the two began trading blows. Bulla got the first hit by elbowing Trunks in the chin, yet he countered by hand chopping her. She attacked again by punching him in the right cheek and he skull bashed her. Bulla then kicked him in the chin; he backflipped away and fired an energy blast at her. Bulla simply deflected her brother's attack before firing her own. The lavender-haired teen dodged the attack and clashed once again with his blue-haired sibling.

With Zuko, the son of Ozai was swinging his blazing blades at his sister, but she managed to swiftly evade his onslaught. Azula then grabbed her brother's arm and tossed him to the side. Zuko started to take heavy breaths as she began to taunt him. "You know Father blames Uncle for the loss at the North Pole. And he considers you a miserable failure for not finding the Avatar," she stated with a smirk. "Why would he want you back home, except to lock you up where you can no longer embarrass him?" Zuko summoned his daggers again and tried to fire kick his sister, but she backflipped away and proceeded to evade her brother's angry assault. Her superior agility and calmness allowed her to dodge and deflect Zuko's predictable moves. She slashed his forehead, leaving three scratches; Zuko recoiled before charging at her in fury as they take their fight to the stairs.

With Trunks, the two Energybenders were still going at it before they fist bumped and separated. The prince then grabbed the hilt of his blade before hastily pulling it out; it flashed as he held it horizontally at his sibling. "I never thought that the day would come when I would use this on my own sister," Trunks muttered. "Don't worry, brother," Bulla replied as she held out her hand while channeling ki into it; her energy swam around her hand until it extended in the shape of a sword. "I came prepared." The two glared at each other before Trunks reflected the sunlight off his blade, temporarily blinding Bulla. He then charged at his sister and swung his sword, but she easily dodged his strike and swung her Ki blade at him. It would have taken his head had he not blocked it with his own sword. "You're pretty good," Trunks praised his sister. "Have you been training?" Bulla nodded before answering, "I learned a few things from your teachers. Not that you would know since you left!" She then swung her sword again, barely missing her brother as she sliced off bits of his hair. Trunks swung his weapon and got the same results; the two fighters clashed their blades together a few more times before separating again. "You lied to me. Both you and Azula lied to us, how could you do that?!" he questioned angrily.

"Don't try to act like the victim here! You left me for three years!" Bulla accused her brother. "You left me and Azula for so long just to be beside Zuko! I spent weeks worrying about you, wondering if you'd ever return or not! I blamed Ozai for so long, thinking that he sent you on an endless mission that you'd eventually die on before I'd get to see you again." She paused for a moment before continuing, "Then I realized something: it was your decision that caused your banishment, your choice to defy Ozai is what separated us. We're family, yet you chose an adoptive relative over your own flesh and blood!"

Trunks looked away, feeling the pain from her words before he looked back and asked, "So, was all that stuff you said about wanting your family back, how you missed us, that we should be together; was it all…a lie?!"

Bulla started shaking as if she were unsure of what to say next. "Perhaps I'd have meant it three years ago, but you left me and Azula to shoulder the burden of the strongest nation. You chose where your loyalty lies and so have I!" She then glared at him as her Ki began to increase. "So yes, everything I said was a lie!" Princess Bulla then charged at her brother and swung furiously; Trunks held up his sword to block her strikes but was being pushed back in the process. Trunks did his best to defend against his sister's assault, but he lost focus when he glanced over to where Zuko and Azula were fighting in time to see the princess grab her brother's wrist and blast the angry prince off the steps with a blue fireball. This distraction allowed Bulla to sock her brother in the face as she shouted, "Don't take your eyes off me!" before firing an energy blast that struck Trunks in the chest. The son of Iroh sailed across the deck on his back; he then used his sword to help him stand up as he was a little dazed from Bulla's attack.

"T-That all you got sis?" Trunks asked her.

"Not even close, bro!" she replied. Bulla then spread out her hands and focused most of her Ki into them. She put her hands together as her energy started to form in her palms; for a moment, Trunks thought he saw the image of a dragon behind her.

With Zuko, he struggled to get up after Azula's attack. He managed to get to his feet and he gazed as his sister while his vision was a little blurry. When he could see again, he saw Azula swinging her arms with lightning tracing them. The electricity danced around her and she pointed her fingers at her brother; the lightning shot out, but at the last second, Iroh grabbed Azula's fingers and redirected the lightning through his body and into the side of a cliff. Iroh then kicked Azula into the water, which grabbed Bulla's attention."Azula!" she cried. Seizing the opportunity, Trunks shouted, "Don't take your eyes off me!" as he fired his signature Burning Attack. The Ki blast collided with the energy in Bulla's hands, causing a small explosion that knocked her into the water. Trunks stood at the edge of the ship and stared into the sea with sadness. "I'm sorry it had to be this way," he muttered before jumping off the ship to join his companions and the three fled from the ship.

* * *

Back at the Earth Kingdom base, Katara and Sokka watched, terrified, while General Fong looked excitedly as Aang continued to generate power still enraged. Suddenly, Gohan's hand that was seen under the rubble had clenched into a fist and the pile of rocks exploded. Gohan stepped out of the earth, clutching his right arm; he looked up and saw his friend in the Avatar state. "Oh no," he mumbled. He then flew up to his brother's level and tried to speak to him. "Aang! You've gotta calm down! This isn't you!"

Aang responded by launching a wind blast at the son of Goku, sending him plummeting toward the ground hard. Aang then came crashing onto the ground, creating a tremor that blew away the General. Earth soldiers were incapacitated by Aang's attack and the small buildings in the base began to crumble. Aang stood in the center of it all, still looking angry, when his spirit was abruptly pulled out of his body. He was soon placed on the back of Roku's dragon with his predecessor sitting in front of him. "It's time you learned," Roku said as he flew Aang through the Spirit World, where they saw numerous past Avatars.

"The Avatar state is a defense mechanism, designed to empower you with the skills and knowledge of all the past Avatars," Roku explained, and as he spoke, Aang could see memories of some of his past lives. One was of Avatar Kyoshi earthbending in the Avatar State; another was an Avatar in Water Tribe clothes and in the Avatar State, bending a tidal wave. "The glow is the combination of all your past lives, focusing their energy through your body." Next was a female Avatar airbending in a large meadow, also using the Avatar State, and the last one was of an Avatar in Fire Nation clothes using the Avatar State to bend lava out of four volcanoes. "In the Avatar State, you are at your most powerful, but you are also at your most vulnerable."

"What do you mean?" Aang inquired.

All the Avatars were suddenly lined up and slowly fading out of existence while Roku answered Aang's question. "If you are killed in the Avatar state, the reincarnation cycle will be broken and the Avatar will cease to exist." Roku then disappeared and Aang looked worried. He was then placed back in his body that was inside an air dome and he came out of the Avatar State, falling to his knees. Aang glanced around and saw the destruction he caused in his anger: the ground was cracked, buildings were in ruins, and earth disks were sticking out from different places in the base arena.

Gohan then approached him. "Hey Aang, glad to see that you're yourself again," he remarked.

"I can't believe I hurt you," Aang said as he sat on the ground in sadness. "I'm sorry, Gohan."

"You didn't hurt me. Don't you know it takes more than a gust of wind to take me out?" Gohan joked. "If you ask me, you're Avatar State isn't all that powerful."

Aang smiled at him before looking away in wonder. "Hey Gohan, what did you mean when you said I wasn't the only one with that kind of power?" he inquired the Z Fighter.

Gohan's face turned serious as he sat beside his brother and began to explain. "Like you, I also possess a powerful state: the Super Saiyan state."

"Super Saiyan state?" Aang repeated.

"My hair turns gold, my eyes become teal, I emit a gold aura, and my power is enhanced greatly," Gohan answered.

"Like the form you used at Roku's temple?" Aang asked as he remembered seeing it before.

Gohan nodded. "And like your Avatar State, it's usually triggered by my anger, but I don't have complete control of it nor can I enter it at will."

"Guess we both need be careful," Aang said.

"Of course, we're in this together, bro," Gohan agreed.

Katara then came up to the boys and embraced both of them. "I'm sorry, Katara," Aang apologized remorsefully. "I hope you guys never have to see me like that again." Just then, General Fong came up to them with an excited look despite what he just witnessed.

"Hah! Are you joking? That was almost perfect! We just have to find a way to control you when you're like that," he said while stroking his beard.

"You're out of your mind," Aang told him in refusal.

"I guess we'll figure that out on the way to the Fire Nation," Fong replied.

Sokka then came up behind Fong on the Ostrich-Horse and bonked him on the head with his war club, knocking him out. "Anybody got a problem with that?" he questioned. Three Earth soldiers shook their heads no; they then bowed humbly to the group and asked, "Do you still want an escort to Omashu?" Katara thought for a moment before saying, "I think we're all set," as Momo jumped onto Aang's shoulder. The Gang then exited the Earth Base on their flying beasts.

* * *

At the Fire Nation bathhouse, the Princesses had called all of the citizens together to make an announcement. "Anyone who harbors these traitors will face the wrath of the Fire Lord!" she declared as she held up a wanted poster with Iroh, Trunks, and Zuko's faces on it; a few of the citizens looked horrified. "There will be no place left to hide," Azula assured angrily.

Meanwhile, the three traitors were running in the woods alongside the river; they eventually stopped to rest. "I think we're safe here," Iroh said. Prince Zuko then brought out a small dagger and stared at it; his companions nodded grimly and Zuko held the dagger above his head. He cut his ponytail off and handed the blade to Trunks, who did the same before handing it to Iroh. The boys gazed at their ponytails. The three then dropped the hair into the river, officially becoming fugitives of the Fire Nation. Their hair floated down the river as they stared out in the distance.

 **A/N: And done! Sorry this took a while, I was having a little trouble. I may not be able to do more chapters for a while since I'm studying for an exam that I'm taking soon. Give me about 3 weeks until I become active on Fanfiction again. For now just please be patient, I'll get back to writing when I'm ready. Thank you to all of my readers, and it's nice to see that the numbers of favs and followers is growing! Stay tuned; until then, TTFN AntiHero out!**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: AntiHero here! I know it's been a while since I've worked on this story. It's just that I work on multiple stories one after another and it takes a while for me to finish and post them since I don't have my own computer and there's very little internet where I work. But I manage and now here's the next chapter of Five Elements! Just a heads up, I skipped the Cave of Two Lovers episode since I never really liked it. There too much talk about love and not enough action or fighting for me, so I'm just going straight to the Omashu chapter. Sorry to those who liked the Two Lovers episode, but this is my story and that's how I do things! Hope you enjoy it!**

 **Disclaimer – I own nothing**

 **Chapter 21 – Return to Omashu**

After getting through the Labyrinth of the two founders of Omashu, the Gang rode their flying beasts toward the city. They landed beside a hill not too far from the city and began climbing to the top. "Well, the journey was long and annoying," Sokka stated to his companions, "but now you get to what it's really about, the destination. I present to you, the Earth Kingdom City of O—oh no." When they made it to the top, they gasped when they saw the great Earth city now bore the symbol of the Fire Nation. The city that was once colored by a strong shade of light brown was now black and surrounded by smoke that escaped from inside.

"I can't believe it," Aang said. "I know the war was spreading far, but Omashu always seemed… untouchable."

"Up until now, it was," Sokka said as he crossed his arms. "Now Ba Sing Se is the only Earth Kingdom Stronghold left."

"How could this have happened?" Gohan wondered.

"I know it's horrible, but we have to move on," Katara reasoned.

"No!" Aang said sharply as he stepped forward. "We're going in to find Bumi!"

"Aang, stop," Sokka argued. "We don't even know if Bumi's still…"

"What? Still what?" Aang challenged as he faced the Tribesman.

"Around," Sokka answered while looking away.

"I think you meant to say _alive_ ," Gohan said bluntly. "Which is all the more reason why we need to go in and find out what happened to this city and if we can save it."

"Exactly, and the first step is to find Bumi," the Avatar agreed with his brother.

"Aang, I know you had your heart set on Bumi, but there are other people who can teach you Earthbending," Katara reasoned.

"This isn't about finding a teacher," Aang assured them. "This is about finding my friend."

" _Our_ friend," the Z Fighter corrected as he stood beside the monk. "Now let's go find him!"

The Gang directed their flying beasts to a sewer tunnel under the city. Aang and Gohan were trying to pry it open while their friends were watching. "A secret passage? Why didn't we just use this the last time?" Sokka questioned. The sewer cap flew open and large chunks of slime spilled out, making him gag.

"Does that answer your question?" Aang retorted. Gohan entered the sewage pipe, followed by Aang, Katara, and finally Sokka. As they climbed up the sewer, Gohan used an energy blast to clear a path for himself, Aang created an air sphere to blow the sludge around him, Katara used her waterbending to bend the sludge away, and Sokka, being a nonbender, was continuously hit with slime waves. By nighttime, the four teens eventually made it to the top. Aang lifted the cover and glanced around to make sure the coast was clear; seeing it was, he then jumped out with Gohan, Katara, and Momo following after.

"Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought," Katara said.

Sokka then climbed out covered in slime; he started walking toward his companions like some sludge monster. Katara spotted a barrel of water and used it to wash all the slime off her brother before Aang slapped him with a gust of wind to dry him off. Sokka stood there looking ungrateful when he suddenly felt something sucking on his face. "AAAH!" he screamed as he grabbed the two tiny creatures stuck to his cheeks and tried to pulled them off, but to no avail. "They won't let go! Help!" He continued to scream frantically before Aang tackled him into a wall.

"Stop shouting, it's just a purple pentapus," he told Sokka. The monk then tickled one of the creatures and it released the Tribesman's left cheek, but left behind a few spot marks. Sokka did the same to the one on his right cheek. Aang then removed the last one on his friend's neck when the teens heard someone shout, "Hey!" and spotted three fire soldiers coming toward them with spears. Aang's friends stood in front of him, blocking the soldiers' view long enough for him to tie a bandana around his forehead to hide his arrow and for Gohan to put his hood over his head. The four teens smiled innocently at the guards. "What are you kids doing out past curfew?" one of the soldiers questioned.

"Sorry, we were just on our way home," Katara lied, and the four teens quickly turned to leave before there could be trouble. However, the guard then noticed the spots on Sokka's neck.

"Wait, what's the matter with him?" he asked, making the teens turn around.

"Um, he has… Pentapox, sir," the Waterbender answered. The lead guard went up to touch Sokka's face, but Katara warned him against it. "Um, it's highly contagious." The soldier retracted his hand; Sokka then got an idea and began to act ill.

"Oh, so awful, I'm dying," he groaned while slowly moving closer to the soldiers.

"A-and deadly," Katara played along.

The soldiers began to back away in fright. "Wait, I think I've heard of Pentapox; didn't your cousin Chang die of it?" the guard asked his comrade. "We better go wash our hands…" Sokka started coughing on the soldiers. "…and burn our clothes!" The fire guards quickly ran away in fear.

"Thank you, sewer friend," Aang said to the small creature.

* * *

At a Fire Nation port, Princess Azula's ship was docked. While her men were stocking up on more supplies, the Firebending prodigy and her Energybending companion were on the ship having counseling with Azula's advisors. Ozai's daughter sat in her carriage with her friend leaning against it with her arms crossed as they both listened to the twin elderly women. "When tracking your brother and uncle, traveling with the royal proficient may not be an option," Lo said.

"May also no longer be wise," Li stated.

"If you hope to keep the element of surprise," they finished together.

"You're right, the royal procession is dead weight," the Fire Princess agreed. "If I want to catch my prey, I must be agile, nimble. I need a small elite team."

"You've already got one member on your team," Bulla spoke up. "The two of us together could make a force to be reckoned with."

"True, but you remember what happened during our first encounter with our targets," Azula reminded her. "You and Trunks were evenly matched before he got the jump on you, and although I bested Zuko, it's clear that Iroh is still the legendary Firebender who conquered even a dragon. Our chances against all three are almost slim, so we'll need more fighters if we want to succeed in our mission."

"What are you suggesting?" Bulla inquired.

"I think it's time to visit some old friends," Azula answered.

* * *

In Omashu, the gang was sneaking through the city streets in search of the missing king; they climbed onto higher ground before hiding behind planks of wood from fire soldiers. "Let's find Bumi and get out of here," Katara whispered.

"Where would they be keeping him?" Sokka asked.

"Somewhere he can't earthbend, somewhere made of metal," Aang responded as he looked around. "Gohan, do you think you can sense Bumi's energy?"

"I've been trying since we entered the city, but I don't sense him at all," Gohan said. "He must be very inactive if his Ki is too low for me to trace." The four then ran for cover beside the mail sending system.

Down below, a woman holding a baby was walking toward the mail system with her daughter and a few guards holding torches. The teenage girl's face was very gloomy as she spoke out loud. "There really is no fathoming the depths of my hatred for this place."

"Mai, your father was appointed governor here," the woman said to her daughter. "We're like royalty here. Be happy, and enjoy it."

As the group walked closer to the mail slide, a squad of Earth soldiers was watching them from the top; one of the soldiers turned to the leader and reported, "The targets are approaching." "Take them out," the head guard ordered.

"I thought my life was boring in the Fire Nation, but this place is unbearably bleak," the girl named Mai continued to complain. "Nothing ever happens." On top of the system, the Earthbender clapped his hands together, sending two large boulders hurtling toward the fire colonials. The Gang heard a rumbling noise and spotted the rocks sliding down toward the targets. Acting on instinct, Gohan fired a Ki blast at the boulders, destroying them instantly and creating a dust cloud. The explosion, however, caught the attention of the very people he just saved, and they didn't look grateful. Mai glared at the Z Fighter as he glanced down and muttered, "Not good."

"The resistance!" Mai's mother cried as she pointed at the boy. Mai immediately attacked by throwing many knives at the Energybender; Gohan quickly pulled out his sword and deflected the flying daggers before jumping back and fleeing with his friends. The guards climbed after them but were immediately knocked off by Katara's water whip. Mai climbed up and fired another set of knives at the Waterbender but they were blocked by her ice wall. Mai continued to pursue the Gang when they passed by a construction sight, where Aang stayed behind and used his airbending to bring down the wood structure and block the knife thrower's path. At the last second, Mai tossed a knife that bounced off the wall and flew toward the Avatar. Aang blocked it with his staff before Mai threw more knives, only for her to miss her targets as the floor opened up and swallowed the before closing. The teenager simply sighed before walking away.

Underground, the four travelers were shaking off their soreness from the fall when they soon found themselves surrounded by the citizens and soldiers of Omashu. Master Roshi stepped out of the crowd and smiled at the Gang. "Hello children, welcome back to Omashu," he greeted.

* * *

The next morning, the princesses of the Fire Nation were passing through some sort of circus; they then spotted a girl about their age standing on her index fingers. She had long brown in a long braid and brown eyes to match. She wore a pink top that stopped above her stomach, a red skirt over pink pants, brown shoes, and red wristbands. "Ty Lee, could that possibly be you?" Azula asked the girl.

"Azula! Bulla!" the girl named Ty Lee cried as she recognized her friends.

"Hey girl, long time no see," Bulla greeted.

The acrobat got on her feet, spun around, and bowed to the princesses before running to hug them. "It's so good to see you both," she said joyfully.

"Please, don't let us interrupt your… whatever it is you were doing," Azula insisted with uncertainty. Ty Lee then got on her elbows and started flexing her legs.

"Mind if I join you?" the blue haired girl asked.

The acrobat smiled. "Sure, I missed my acrobat partner," Ty Lee said. Bulla then got into the same position as her while Azula just watched.

"Tell me, what is the daughter of a nobleman doing here?" the princess questioned. "Certainly our parents didn't send you to the royal fire academy for girls to end up in… places like this." She glanced to the side where she saw a Platypus Bear laying an egg, her face showing slight disgust. "We have a proposition for you; we're hunting a few traitors. You remember my old fuddy duddy uncle, right?"

"Oh yeah, he was so funny," Ty Lee giggled.

"Well, we're supposed to track him down and capture him, along with our brothers," Bulla explained.

"Really?" the acrobat questioned.

"We would be honored if you joined us on our mission," Azula stated.

"Oh, I, uh, would love to," Ty Lee replied, feeling a bit nervous as she got on her feet. "But the truth is, I'm really happy here. I mean, my aura has never been pinker!"

"We can see that," Bulla noted.

"Well, I wouldn't want you to give up the life you love just to please me," the princess said.

Ty Lee looked surprised at first but then bowed graciously. "Thank you, Azula." The acrobat went back to doing her exercises as the Fire Princess began to leave.

"Of course before we leave, we're going to catch your show," Azula suddenly added, making Ty Lee gasp.

"Uh, yeah, sure, of course," she replied nervously.

Princess Bulla got up and said, "Don't worry, Ty, Azula just has a… unique way of asking for help. Let's just hope tonight's show will be the only time we'll be attending." She then left to catch up with her fellow princess.

* * *

Underground, the Gang had just spoken to the resistance. The Avatar then asked, "So is King Bumi with you guys?" Everyone then glanced at the monk in sadness and shame. "Is he leading the resistance?"

"Of course not!" the Earth General replied. "The day of the invasion, we prepared ourselves for battle. We were ready to defend our city and fight for our lives and our freedom. But before we even had a chance… King Bumi surrendered." The Airbender and Energybender's faces changed to downcast expressions as the general continued to explain. "The day of the invasion, I asked King Bumi what he wanted to do. He looked me in the eye and said…"

 _Flashback- Fireballs were raining down on the city of Omashu as the Fire Nation attacked. King Bumi and the General watched the attacks from on top of the city wall. "I'm going to do… nothing," the King said simply before laughing like a maniac._

"Doesn't matter now. Fighting the Fire Nation is our only path to freedom," the General said. "And freedom is worth dying for!"

"Actually, there's another kind of freedom," Aang suggested. "You could leave Omashu. You're directing all of your energy to fight the Fire Nation, but you're outnumbered. You can't win. Now's the time to retreat so you can live to fight another day."

"You don't understand. They've taken our home, so we have to fight them at any cost!" the General argued.

"I don't know, Yao, living to fight another day is starting to sound pretty good to me," one of the soldiers said to the General.

"Yeah, I'm with the kid," another soldier agreed.

General Yao turned to his people who, where mumbling about escaping the city; eventually they all agreed that was the best choice, getting the General to realize it as well. "Fine. But there's thousands of citizens that need to leave; how are we gonna get them all out?"

Sokka thought for a moment before answering, "Suckers!" Everyone just stared at the smiling Tribesman, looking baffled. "You're all about to come down with a nasty case of Pentapox," he clarified. The next morning, the citizens collected as many pentapusses as possible and put them in buckets of water. One by one, each resident of Omashu placed the little suckers on their bodies, and after a few minutes of their sucking, they removed them, leaving tiny red spots on themselves. When all of the people had spots, Sokka came up to instruct them on his plan. "Now the marks make you look sick, but you gotta act sick to sell it." An elderly man with a cane walked past them while groaning in pain. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" Sokka said encouragingly.

"Years of practice," the old man responded.

"Okay everyone, into sick formation!" Sokka ordered as the townspeople gathered together. Katara was about to follow them when she noticed her friends weren't by her side. She looked back and saw Aang leaving.

"Aang, what are you doing? Aren't you coming with us?" she asked the monk.

"No, I'm not leaving until I find Bumi," Aang told her. Momo then jumped onto his shoulder and pulled on his lips. "Sorry Momo, I'll feed you later," he told the lemur while putting him down. Aang then left, hopping from roof to roof in search of his old friend.

"What about you, Gohan?" the Waterbender inquired.

"Roshi wants to train me outside the city, so we'll be waiting for you guys there," he answered before leaving to meet with the old fighter.

Moments later, many Fire Nation soldiers were standing guard with their weapons ready when they heard a strange moaning noise. They eventually spotted several of the city's people coming toward them and looking very ill. Everywhere the guards turned they saw sick citizens approaching them; the soldiers stepped back each time the contaminated people got closer to them. "PLAGUE! PLAGUE!" one of the soldiers cried before they all dropped their spears and ran inside. A fire guard then sounded the alarm, and the Governor appeared on his mansion's balcony with his wife, teenage daughter, and baby son. "What is going on down there?" the Governor questioned.

"I saw some kids yesterday who were sick with Pentapox. It must have spread!" the guard informed him.

"Pentapox! I'm pretty sure I've heard of that," the Governor mused.

"What should we do?" the guard asked.

"Drive them out of the city... but don't touch them! We have to rid the city of this disease!" the Governor ordered; the guard bowed before leaving to do his job.

"Fire Flakes, Dad?" Mai offered to her father.

"How awful!" Mai's mother gasped while embracing her spouse. While the grown ups were looking out the balcony, the baby boy started wondering off into the house.

Elsewhere, Aang continued to search the city for his old friend. He jumped onto a rooftop, where he spotted a familiar Gorilla goat pushing a turnstile with a chain that was attached to a millstone around his neck. The monk jumped down and called, "Flopsie!" getting the beast's attention. The Gorilla goat ran to hug the Airbender, but was stopped due to the chain's length. The creature groaned as it struggled to reach Aang. The boy jumped onto the millstone and used the water from Bumi's pet's bowl to freeze the chain before shattering it. Flopsie hugged the monk and licked his cheek, making him laugh. "Come on, Flopsie, you gotta help me find Bumi," the Avatar said as he climbed onto the beast's back. "Yip, yip!" he commanded, but the Gorilla goat didn't respond. "Oh... I guess that doesn't work with you like it does with Appa. Let's go!" Flopsie then started running through the city in search of the king.

* * *

Late at night, the fire circus was having a show. It began with people dancing around in dragon costumes before the Ring Master started to speak. "We're deeply honored to have the Fire Lord's daughter at our humble circus!" He then turned to Azula and Bulla, who were sitting in a high box with two guards beside it. "Tell us if there is anything we can do to make the show more enjoyable," he told the Fire Princess.

"I will," she assured.

" _This'll be a show no one will forget,"_ Bulla thought.

Ty Lee's performance soon began. With her left hand, she stood on top of a short stick that was on a small tent which was balanced on a high wire. The acrobat demonstrated incredible balance and skill as she switched her left hand and for her right one with ease while stretching her legs in the air. "Incredible. Do you think she'll fall?" Azula inquired.

"Of course not," the Ring Master replied confidently.

"Then wouldn't it make it more interesting if you removed the net?" the Princess stated.

Feeling a little worried, the Ring Master tried to explain, "Uh... the thing is... the performers..." but Azula interrupted him.

"You're right, you're right. That's been done," Azula dismissed before making another request. "I know. Set the net on fire."

"Of course, Princess," the Master complied. He shot a fireball at the net, and the flames spread over the net in seconds. Ty Lee's face had a frown on it as she started sweating from heat of the flames, but she kept her balance. Princess Azula watched in amusement while the Circus Master and the other Princess were looking edgy.

"Brilliant, just brilliant," Azula commented before asking, "Oooo, what kind of dangerous animals do you have?"

"Well, our circus holds the most exotic assortment..." the Ring Master started to answer before he was cut off.

"Release them all!" Azula ordered, shocking the Ring Master.

" _Come on, girl, hang in there!"_ Bulla thought. Ty Lee's face was now full of fear as the entire circus was soon full of exotic animals running wild. Smoke went into the sky as the cries of the animals filled the night.

* * *

At the camp outside the city, the Son of Goku was having a training session with the invincible old master. Normally, Gohan wouldn't have much of a problem battling against Roshi, but during this session, Gohan was tasked with wearing an eighty kilo turtle shell on his back, so as a result the younger fighter wasn't as strong or fast as usual.

Gohan swung his sword with great force but the old master easily blocked it with his staff. Roshi pushed the boy back and jabbed him in the chest with the top of his stick. Gohan fell on his back, or at least on the shell he was wearing, as Roshi placed his weapon into the ground and jumped into the air right above him; he then cupped his hand together and chanted, **"Kamehameha!"** and fired his signature destructive turtle shock wave at the boy. Gohan quickly rolled out of the way and got on his feet. He then fired numerous Ki blasts at his mentor, who deflected them with his staff. "You know I met your sister on our journey to the North Pole, Master Roshi," Gohan told him.

"So I've heard, she told me that you also fought against one of my students in the letter she sent me," Roshi responded.

"Wait a minute, Gramps is your student?!" Gohan questioned. "But he's an old man already!"

"Yeah, so?" Roshi asked.

"O… k," Gohan said as he thought, _"Just how old is this fighter?"_

"I commend you for putting up a good fight against my oldest pupil," the Turtle Hermit complimented him. "Gohan told me that your skills reminded him of your father."

"Yeah well, I try," Gohan said sheepishly before he realized something. "Wait, did you just call your student Gohan?!"

The old Martial Artist nodded. "Yup, Baba's champion is named Gohan, just like you. In fact, that's where you got your name from."

"Heh, guess I've got more than one legacy to uphold," the Z Fighter chuckled. "Alright, let's continue training!"

"Nah, how about we take a break for now," the old Master suggested. "Let's join up with the townspeople while you try to get used to that shell on your back." Gohan bowed humbly and the two warriors made their way over to the campfire where the citizens were taking refuge. Gohan regrouped with his companions as they waited for the Avatar to return, hopefully with the city's King. After a few minutes, the Airbender and the Gorilla goat appeared in the camp with depressed looks on their faces. The rest of the Gang quickly approached them.

"We looked everywhere…no Bumi," Aang said in sadness. Katara hugged the monk to comfort him while Sokka embraced the Gorilla goat. The leader of the resistance then came up to the Gang and the King's advisor.

"We've got a problem. We just did a head count," he reported.

"Oh no, did someone get left behind?" Katara asked.

"No, we have an extra," he corrected as he pointed to his left, where Momo was walking while the Governor's son was holding him tightly, thus being dragged in the process. The four teens simply stared at the child with blank expressions. ( **A/N: I'm not gonna bother writing the scene when Tom-Tom ended up outside the city 'cause it seems like a waste of time to me.** )

At the Governor's home, Mai, her parents, and two fire guards were standing at the balcony in sorrow after finding out that little Tom-Tom was missing. The Governor's wife was weeping as her daughter handed her a tissue. The Governor rested on the balcony, looking distressed. "So, the resistance has kidnapped my son," the Governor deduced. "Everything so clever, so tricky, just like their King Bumi."

"What do you want to do, sir?" one of the guards questioned, and the Governor looked out into the night sky as he made his decision.

* * *

At the Fire circus, a bouquet of black roses was placed on a table. Ty Lee sat at her dressing table (somehow still alive and unharmed) in front of a mirror with her Princess friends standing behind her. "What an exquisite performance. I can't wait to see how you'll top yourself tomorrow," Azula said to the acrobat.

"I'm sorry, Azula, but unfortunately there won't be a show tomorrow," Ty Lee stated with a smile.

"Really?" the Princess inquired.

"The universe has given me strong hints that it's time for a career change," Ty Lee explained as she removed her tiara and hung it up.

" _Yeah, the_ universe _gave you those hints,"_ Bulla thought.

The acrobat then faced her friends and declared, "I wish to join you both on your mission." The daughter of Ozai smirked, clearly glad that she had gotten her way.

* * *

Back at the Earth camp, the Gang was sitting around the fire with their beasts, the resistance leader, and the Governor's son. They watched as Tom-Tom continued to chase the Lemur bat until it stumbled upon Sokka's war club; he picked it up and began sucking on it. The Tribesman confiscated it and exclaimed, "No! Bad Fire Nation baby!" The toddler started to wail, earning Sokka a slap to the face from his younger sister. "Oh... alright," Sokka gave in as he handed his weapon back to the child.

Tom-Tom resumed playing with the club and the Waterbender embraced him while saying, "Ooo, you're so cute!"

"Sure he's cute now, but when he's older, he'll join the Fire Nation army," the General spoke. "You won't think he's so cute then. He'll be a killer."

"Does that look like the face of a killer to you?" the Water Tribe girl asked as she held up the child to the General, who didn't respond but gave a serious face

"Hopefully this war will be over before he can be aware of it," Gohan mused. "I wonder if that's how all villains start out? Small, adorable, and innocent. And if so, what causes them to change?"

Just then, a red-feathered bird with a small case that held the Fire Nation insignia landed beside the camp, alerting the Gang and the Omashu General. "A Messenger Hawk!" Yao exclaimed. The Avatar approached the bird and pulled out the letter from the bird's case and read it to his friends. "It's from the Fire Nation governor. He thinks we kidnapped his son. So... he wants to make a trade: his son... for King Bumi." The young Monk's face was full of shock from the message.

The next morning, the Avatar stood on the mountains with the Governor's son asleep in his arms. He then approached his friends and sky bison. "You realize we're probably walking right into a trap?" Sokka questioned.

"I don't think so. I'm sure the Governor wants his son back as much as we want Bumi," Aang assured his companions. "It's a new day, I have a good feeling about this."

"Let's hope you're right, bro," Gohan said as he dropped the shell and placed his sword on his back.

Inside the city, about six Fire Soldiers were lifting Princess Azula's carriage and walking toward the Governor's mansion with Princess Bulla and Ty Lee trailing close behind. Mai stood at the steps with a bored look; the soldiers placed the carriage down and the Fire Princess stepped out. The three teenage girls approached the Governor's daughter, who bowed to the Fire Lord's daughter. "Please tell me you're here to kill me," Mai pleaded in a dull tone. She then smiled and the four girls laughed at her joke.

"It's great to see you, Mai," Azula greeted as she embraced Mai.

"Hey there, Bulla. Still acting as Azula's little tag-along?" Mai teased.

"Hey! I'm the Sapphire Shadow, don't forget it!" Bulla retorted before hugging her friend.

Ty Lee then hugged the knife thrower, which she accepted but still expressed her wonder. "I thought you ran off and joined the circus? You said it was your calling."

"Well, Azula called a little louder!" the acrobat replied.

"That's one way of putting it," Bulla muttered.

"We have a mission and we need you both," Azula told her friends.

"Count me in. Anything to get me out of this place," Mai immediately accepted.

Moments later, the girls were inside the mansion. Princess Azula was sitting in the Governor's chair with two guards at her right and left sides. The Governor and his wife were kneeling on floor pillows before the Fire Princess while Bulla, Mai, and Ty Lee were kneeling right beside them. "I apologize, you've come to Omashu at a difficult time," the Governor explained. "At noon, we're making a trade with the resistance to get Tom-Tom back."

"Yes, I'm so sorry to hear about your son, but really, what did you expect when you let all of the citizens leave?" Azula questioned criticizingly. The Princess then stood up, looking displeased. "My father has trusted you with this city and you're making a mess of things!"

"Forgive us, Princess," the Governor pleaded as he and his wife bowed humbly.

Azula stepped off the throne and walked toward the married couple. "You stay here. Mai will handle the hostage trade so you don't have a chance to mess it up," she told them harshly while her teammates stood up. "And there is no more 'Omashu.' I'm renaming it in honor of my father, the City of New Ozai." As she spoke, a construction design of a giant statue of Fire Lord Ozai was being built.

When the day struck noon, the Gang was waiting at the construction site for the Governor and King Bumi; the four teens had serious looks on their faces while Sokka held Tom-Tom as they waited. Pretty soon, Azula and her team appeared on the construction site. Gohan raised an eyebrow at the four girls approaching. _"The girl up front was the one who attacked us the night we got here,"_ he thought. _"That girl on the left looks familiar, and the blue-haired one reminds me of Trunks. And the pretty one on the right, I've seen her somewhere before, but where?"_ The Z Fighter gazed at the acrobat as he observed her beauty, blushing a bit.

Bumi's laughter was heard from the top of the construction frame, where a crane lowered the King down. "Hi, everybody!" the crazy King greeted. Aang smiled at the sight of his old friend as Bumi was placed on the ground behind the girls. "You brought my brother?" Mai questioned.

"He's here. We're ready to trade," Aang declared as the Governor's son played with Sokka.

"I'm sorry, but a thought just occurred to me. Do you mind?" the Sapphire Princess asked.

"Of course not, Princess Azula," Mai replied.

"We're trading a two year-old for a king. A powerful, Earthbending king," Azula stated, and Bumi nodded to the Princess. "It just doesn't seem like a fair trade, does it?" Mai looked over to the Gang and Tom-Tom, showing no sign of concern for her younger brother.

Gohan heard the conversation with his good hearing and noticed Mai's look. "Guys, be ready! Things are about to get serious," he whispered as he gripped his sword.

"You're right," Mai agreed; she then stepped forward and announced, "The deal's off!" She raised her hand, gesturing the crane to take Bumi back up.

"Whhhoa! See you all later!" the King of Omashu laughed.

"Bumi!" Aang cried. The Avatar rushed to save his old friend, and Azula immediately went on the offensive by throwing a large blue fireball. The monk jumped over it and bounced of the construction frame before opening his glider to fly upward. Unfortunately, the bandana around his forehead came loose. Aang tried to grab it with his teeth, but it was too late; his arrow tattoo was exposed, revealing his identity to the Fire Nation girls.

"That's…" Bulla started to say.

"The Avatar!" Azula exclaimed as she watched Aang fly toward the Omashu King. "My lucky day!" She smirked before running over to the construction frame. She grabbed onto one of the chains of the winch and cut the other one with her fire, pulling her upward.

Aang landed right on Bumi's box, surprising the old Earthbender. "Aang, is that you? Where did you come from?" Bumi questioned the Airbender.

"Hang on! We're gonna get you out of here," Aang promised him. He took a big breath and started blowing air onto the chain on Bumi's box, slowly encasing it in ice.

Down below, Azula's comrades were advancing on Aang's friends. Mai pulled out a few daggers and Bulla fired multiple Ki attacks at the Gang, but Gohan quickly deflected them. "Things are starting to get out of hand!" Gohan alerted.

"We've got to get the baby out of here!" Katara stated as she took her stance.

Sokka was currently blowing the Bison whistle. "Way ahead of you!" he said before Tom-Tom took it and started blowing it. Gohan charged at the Sapphire Shadow while the Water Tribe siblings ran to the edge of the Platform. Before he could make it, though, the Tribesman was struck in the sole of his foot by the acrobat. Sokka was knocked off his feet and sent sliding toward the edge of the platform; he held the baby protectively as they stopped just before they could fall off. Ty Lee then jumped onto the platform and ran toward Sokka, while Katara brought her water out just as Mai threw three knives at her. The Waterbender slashed the platform, causing three planks of wood to fly in front of her and block the flying blades. She tossed the planks at Mai and used her water to grab Ty Lee's ankle, tripping her and allowing Sokka to escape the construction.

With Aang, the monk was still blowing ice onto the chain while Bumi was trying to speak to him. "Aang, stop your blowing for a minute!" The Avatar finally stopped freezing the chain when the Fire Princess jumped out of the construction frame; she fired another blue fireball from her foot. "Now hold on just a… duahhh!" The King was interrupted when Aang deflected the attack and severed the ice chain, sending him and Bumi plummeting downward. The box turned horizontally in the air and Aang stood on top as he created an air pillow below them; the two bounced off it and began sliding down the Omashu mail system. Azula watched her target get away before jumping into an empty crate and sliding after them.

"Just like old times, isn't it, Bumi?" Aang laughed.

"Aang, I need to talk to you!" Bumi shouted over the wind.

"It's good to see you, too!" Aang replied, having misheard his friend. The Airbender then spotted Azula on the chute above them. She fired many fire attacks but Aang blocked them with his staff. The two slides then crossed together with Aang in the lead and Azula in pursuit. The monk sent an air blast at the Princess but she split it apart with her hands and smirked as she continued to attack with fire. The chase led them to a slide that had several arches over it, so Aang created a wind blade that severed them, causing them to collapse as Azula's crate passed through. When it made it past the dust, Aang sighed in relief when he saw the crate was empty, but the Princess suddenly jumped out from inside the box, surprising Aang, who ducked to evade another fire attack.

Back at the construction area, Gohan and Bulla were locked in combat. The black-haired fighter threw a punch at the blue-haired princess, but she blocked it and kicked him in the face. She then tried to elbow bash him but he dodged it and palm struck her. Gohan then backed away and pulled out his sword before pointing it at his opponent; in response, Bulla stretched out her right hand and formed a Ki blade. "Wow, cool," an awestruck Gohan muttered before he blocked a strike from Bulla. The two were engaged in a sword fight. They slashed at each other repeatedly until Bulla managed to knock Gohan's blade out of his hand and into the air. Although he was unharmed, Gohan took the offensive by skull bashing Bulla before blasting her away with a kiai.

The Sapphire Shadow glared at the son of Goku as he charged to strike her again, and the two were trading blows again. However, Gohan was so focused on his fight that his senses didn't alert him of the acrobat's presence from behind him. Gohan threw a right hook at Bulla but she quickly dodged and grabbed his right arm; she held him in place allowing Ty Lee to jab his right arm a few times and then his left arm as he winced in pain. Gohan instinctively grabbed the acrobat's wrist and tossed her to one of the holes in the platform, where she fell down. He then kicked Bulla in the gut, forcing her to let him go so that he could back away from her. The Z Fighter raised his hands above his head and cried, **"Masenko…ha!"** but when he thrust his hands forward, not even a speck of energy came out of his hands. _"What the? Why can't I fire my attack?!"_ Gohan thought as he evaded Bulla's assault. _"It feels like I'm channeling energy through my body, but when it gets to my arms, something blocks it off!"_ He attempted to fire an energy blast again, only to get the same result.

"I gotta say, you're pretty good; not many are able to hold their own against me," Bulla stated. "But you've got no chance at beating me now! An Energybender who can't bend energy won't last long."

"Who says I need my arms to bend?" Gohan asked before he roared, **"Masenko…ha!"** firing the demon flash attack from his mouth. Bulla quickly crossed her arms to block the blast; the beam collided with her and she slid a few feet away from the black-haired boy. "Ok, now I'm mad!" she growled as she stood back up. She then rushed at the son of Goku with her right fist enhanced with Ki; she struck him in the gut many times before blasting him away. Gohan skidded across the floor as his blade hit the ground; he tried to channel and release his Ki but found that he was unable to do that now. _"What did those girls do to me?!"_ he thought. _"Their blows are somehow blocking the Ki inside me!"_ With no more time to think, Gohan grabbed his sword and braced himself as Bulla rushed at him with her energy blade.

With Katara, the knife thrower continued to toss daggers at the Waterbender, who easily deflected them with her bending. Katara then threw a water attack at Mai, but she bent backwards to avoid it while throwing another knife from the gadget on her ankle. Katara blocked it with an ice wall and Mai ran toward her, but Katara quickly launched a water arm that grabbed Mai's right arm and encased it in ice. Mai attempted to break it with her left hand but it was a futile. While this was going on, Ty Lee came back up the platform and snuck up behind the Water Tribe girl. Katara was unaware of the acrobat's presence until her arms were jabbed a few times. The ice under Katara's control suddenly melted and fell to the ground, freeing the knife thrower. Gohan was then knocked toward his friend just as Princess Bulla rejoined hers; Katara motioned her arms to bend the water, but it didn't respond. "How are the both of you gonna fight us without your bending?" Mai questioned as she brought out a three-bladed knife.

Gohan got up and held his sword horizontally as he stood defensively in front of Katara. Mai held the knife she was about to throw, but something struck her hand, knocking the blade away. "I seem to manage!" Sokka yelled as he appeared on Appa. He caught his boomerang and landed on the platform in front of his companions, allowing the Sky Bison to slam his tail on the ground, creating a giant gust of wind that blew all three girls off the construction site. The three teens were soon soaring through the air on Appa; they sailed over the mail slide in search of their friends. "There's Aang!" Katara cried as she pointed to where she saw the Avatar.

"We can catch him!" Sokka said. He steered the bison toward the slide, where Princess Azula shot more fire blasts at the monk and he continued to deflect them. "Hang on, Bumi! Our ride's here!" Aang told the King when he saw his friends coming. Azula shot a blast at Appa, only to miss as the bison swerved out of the way, before firing another at Aang; he deflected it and launched both himself and Bumi into the air. Unfortunately, they sailed right over the three teens, who were unable to grab Bumi's box, and plummeted right onto another slide. Azula continued to pursue them as she created a fire pinwheel and tossed it at her enemies. As it came closer, Bumi saw the attack and raised his head, creating a large rock that caused the fire attack to dissipate. The daughter of Ozai jumped out of her box just as it crashed into the rock; she stopped on the slide and watched as her prey escaped with an unsatisfied look on her face.

"You could earthbend?! All along?!" a surprised Aang asked the Earthbender as they continued down the slide.

"Well, they didn't cover my face," Bumi replied. He then lifted his head again as they reached the end of the slide, and another rock came up from the ground, getting Bumi's box to stand upward as Aang jumped off and faced the King.

"I don't understand. Why didn't you free yourself?! Why did you surrender when Omashu was invaded?! What's the matter with you, Bumi?!" Aang questioned the King furiously.

"Listen to me, Aang. There are options in fighting called jin," Bumi started to say. "It's a choice of how you direct your energy."

"I know! There's positive jin when you're attacking and negative jin when you're retreating," Aang stated while holding up two fingers.

"And neutral jin, when you do nothing!" Bumi said.

"There are _three_ jins?" Aang inquired as he brought up a third finger.

"Well, technically there are eighty five. But let's just focus on the third," Bumi suggested before he continued explaining. "Neutral jin is the key to Earthbending. It involves listening and waiting for the right moment to strike."

"That's why you surrendered, isn't it?" Aang asked as he began to understand.

"Yes, and this is also why I can't leave now," Bumi said.

Aang then turned away from the King of Omashu and looked down sadly. "I guess I need to find someone else to teach me Earthbending," he said morosely, stating the obvious.

"Your teacher will be someone who has mastered neutral jin," the old Earth master advised the monk. "You need to find someone who waits and listens before striking."

The Lemur bat suddenly landed on Aang's shoulder. "Hey, Momo!" Aang greeted his pet.

"Momo's mastered a few jins himself!" Bumi said, and the Lemur screeched in response. "Goodbye, Aang. I'll see you and Gohan when the time is right." Laughing maniacally, the crazy King then fell on his back and used his Earthbending to move the rock up the slide while pushing his box as well. The Avatar stood at the slide and watched his old friend leave just as his travel companions appeared behind him on Appa and Icarus, the latter having been picked up from the campsite.

* * *

Elsewhere, Princess Azula was being lifted in her carriage through the city while her teammates were trailing behind her. "So, we're tracking down your brothers and Uncle, huh?" Mai asked after she and Ty Lee were briefed about the mission.

"It'll be interesting seeing Zuko again, won't it, Mai?" the acrobat teased her friend. Mai turned away and smiled, slightly embarrassed. "I wonder how they've changed, especially Trunks."

"It's not just Zuko, Iroh, and Trunks anymore. We have a fourth target now," Azula stated with determination.

"Hey Bulla, what did you think of that spiky-haired boy from earlier?" Ty Lee inquired curiously.

"Hmm, he seemed familiar to me," Bulla answered. "I remember Brody saying there was an Energy bender who was incredibly strong. If that was him, then we can't let our guard down around him or the Avatar."

"Well, I think he's cute!" Ty Lee said, smiling a bit wider.

Late at night, Aang and Gohan had snuck back into Omashu with baby Tom-Tom. They hid on the roof and looked down to see the Governor and his wife holding each other in sorrow for their son. The Airbender quietly landed on the balcony behind them and placed Tom-Tom on the floor; he jumped back onto the roof just as Mai's parents looked behind and saw their child walking toward them. "Tom-Tom!" Mai's mother exclaimed happily as the parents embraced the boy. The brothers smiled at the family before leaving.

 **A/N: Done! Now onto the next chapter! Can't wait till I get to the really exciting parts; you'll love what I do there! Thank you to those who favorited, followed, and reviewed this story; stay tuned! BBFN AntiHero out!**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: AntiHero here! Sorry I haven't worked on this in a while. I kinda lost interest in writing this story, but then I started watching episodes of Avatar: the Legend of Aang/Korra and the spark came back. Now that I got my inspiration back, it's time to continue where we left off, and I think you'll like the surprise I have in store for this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer – I own nothing, just this fanfic.**

 **Chapter 24 – The Swamp**

 **(A/N: I'm skipping the beginning scene because I seriously hated it! I mean, a great fire general like Iroh mistreated like some hobo and Prince Zuko had to sit and watch in anger; that ain't right at all. However, I have something later that might make up for it.)**

After their visit to the conquered Omashu, the Gang was now on the quest to find Aang's Earthbending teacher. They flew over a large swamp with the Avatar, the Water Tribe siblings, and the lemur on the Bison's saddle while the Z Fighter was riding on his dragon companion right beside them. As they flew, Momo was looking down at the swamp while Katara was reading a map and Sokka was sharpening his machete, both humans looking very bored. On Appa's head, Aang was steering the flying beast when he glanced down at the swamp; he seemed entranced by the land and unknowingly directed the Bison to descend.

Sokka noticed their descent and inquired, "Hey, you taking us down for a reason?" When he got no answer from the monk, he repeated a little louder, "Aang! Why are we going down?!"

Hearing the Tribesman's voice, Aang snapped out of his trance. "What? I didn't even notice," he admitted as he wiped his face.

"Are you noticing now?" Sokka asked.

"What's up, guys?" Gohan asked as he flew to Appa's head.

"Is something wrong?" Katara inquired as she came up to Sokka.

"I know this is gonna sound weird, but... I think the swamp is... calling to me," Aang replied while wearing a hard look.

"Is it telling ya where we can get something to eat?" Sokka questioned while grasping his empty stomach.

"No, I... I think it wants us to land there," Aang explained further.

"No offense to the swamp, but I don't see any land there to land on," Sokka stated, making Aang frown.

"I don't know... Bumi said that to learn Earthbending, I would have to wait and listen, and now I'm actually hearing the earth. Do you want me to ignore it?" Aang asked his friends.

The Water Tribe siblings looked down at the swamp as Appa got closer to it. "Yes!" Sokka answered.

"I'm sensing some weird energy from this place. It's a little mysterious," Gohan admitted. "I don't think we should be here."

"I agree with Gohan. There's something ominous about that place," Katara said. Momo then looked away from the swamp, Icarus growled, and Appa groaned out.

"See? Even Appa, Icarus, and Momo don't like it here," the Tribesman stated.

"Okay, since everyone feels so strongly about this... bye swamp," Aang sighed. "Yip, yip!" He whipped the reins, commanding the sky Bison to fly away from the swamp. Before they could get far, though, a tornado appeared behind them. Sokka heard the noise and looked back to see the strong winds coming at them.

"You better throw in an extra "yip"! We gotta move!" he warned his friends.

Aang and Gohan desperately tried to direct their animal companions away from the twister, but no matter where they steered, the tornado easily followed them. Eventually, the twister closed in on them and the suction started to pull Gohan, Icarus, and Sokka in. Katara grabbed her brother while holding onto the saddle, and Icarus struggled to fight against the wind current, but it proved too strong for him, so he quickly bit onto Appa's fur with Gohan holding onto his tail. Aang then jumped onto the saddle and created a massive air bubble around his friends, Appa, and Icarus. The bubble kept everyone together and they piled in Appa's saddle. Aang struggled to maintain the bubble as they were pulled into the tornado, but it began to shrink around Appa, exposing his foot to the twister. Seeing his brother's predicament, Gohan summoned all his strength to create an energy barrier around them as Aang's bubble dropped, but just like the Avatar, he couldn't keep up the dome for long against the tornado. He eventually let go, causing everyone to be swallowed by the twister. The four teens were then thrown out into the swamp; the Water Tribe siblings fell into the water while Aang and Gohan slowly descended to the bottom.

Sokka sat up in the water and rubbed his head in pain. The Water Tribe siblings got to their feet and the four observed their surroundings. "Where are Appa and Momo?" Aang inquired.

"Icarus is missing, too," Gohan noted. The two hoisted themselves into the air and appeared on top of a tall tree, above the swamp.

"Appa! Momo!" Aang called for his pets.

"Hey Icarus, where are you, boy?" Gohan yelled. They scanned the area, but only saw trees everywhere.

Down below, Katara and Sokka were trekking through the water when the Waterbender pointed to her brother and said, "Sokka, you've got an elbow leech!"

"Where?! Where?!" Sokka questioned frantically.

"Where do you think?" Katara replied calmly with a hint of sarcasm.

The non-bender glanced at his elbow to find the parasite hanging from it. "Why do things keep on attaching to me?!" he questioned furiously as he pulled the bug off and tossed it away, nearly hitting his sister. Katara glared at her brother just as Aang and Gohan descended to the water.

"You couldn't find them?" Katara asked.

"No... and the tornado... it just disappeared," Aang reported. The four gazed into the trees, wondering where the rest of their group was.

In a different part of the swamp, Appa was tangled up in a bunch of vines; he groaned as he attempted to free himself but failed. Momo and Icarus began chomping on the vines to free the Bison. Eventually, Appa fell to the swampy water with a large splash; he shook himself dry and started to fly back the air, but he quickly got caught in another trap of vines. The Bison growled and the two smaller animals started cutting vines to free him again.

Back with the teens, Sokka cut through the swamp vines to clear a path. "We better speed things up!" he said as he continued cutting.

"Maybe... we should be a little nicer to the swamp," Aang suggested.

The tribesman stopped cutting to address the monk. "Aang, these are just plants! Do you want me to say 'please' and 'thank you' as I swing my machete back and forth?" he questioned before he resumed cutting the vines.

"Maybe you should listen to Aang," Katara spoke as she looked up. "Something about this place feels... alive."

"I'm sure there are lots of things that are alive here, and if we don't wanna wind up getting eaten by them, we need to find Appa as fast as we can," Sokka reasoned before he cut another vine. "Gohan, how about a hand here?"

The young warrior shook his head. "No thanks. This place gives me the creeps, and I don't wanna do something that might upset it," he replied.

"Wait, Gohan! You can sense Appa's energy to find him and the others!" Aang remembered.

"It's worth a try," Gohan agreed. He closed his eyes to try and sense Appa's or Icarus' life force. His expression became uneasy before he reopened his eyes. "Sorry guys, their energies are too low for me to sense at this distance, and this swamp's own energy is interfering with my senses."

"Guess we gotta do things my way then," Sokka said as he continued slicing through vines. Behind the teens, a few vines opened slightly as though someone was watching from them; the Energybender glanced behind him suspiciously but saw no one there.

"What is it, Gohan?" Katara inquired when she noticed his discomfort.

"I thought I sensed… never mind," Gohan dismissed before the teens continued on their way. After wandering for a while, the sky got dark as night had fallen. Sokka continued to lead the benders through the swamp while they searched for their animal companions.

"Appa! Icarus! Momo!" Katara called out.

"There's no way they can hear us and no way we can see them. We'll have to make camp for the night," Sokka suggested before he swung his blade to ward off some swamp flies. A bubble emerged from the water before popping.

"What was that?!" Katara yelped.

"Nothing, just swamp gas. Look, there's nothing supernatural going on here," Sokka said before the Gang tried to block the terrible smell from their noses. Then they heard a bloodcurdling screech and were startled into hugging each other; the teens spotted a small white bird before it screeched again and flew away. "I think we should build a fire..." the tribesman mumbled. He quickly broke away from the benders and started cutting off pieces of wood.

"Sokka, the longer we're here the more I think you shouldn't be doing that," Aang protested.

"No, I asked the swamp. It said this was fine. Right, swamp?" Sokka answered sarcastically before grabbing a branch and saying, "No problem, Sokka!" He continued to chop wood while Aang looked at him with an annoyed expression. After Sokka made a wood pile, Gohan started a fire with an energy blast and the four sat around it while camping in the root system of a large tree. Katara looked around their campsite before facing her friends with a scared look.

"Does anyone else get the feeling that we're being watched?" she inquired.

"Yes," Gohan agreed.

"Please, we're all alone out here," Sokka denied as he swung his blade at another fly; a bright light suddenly appeared, blinding the teens. It flew into the woods, where the Gang spotted multiple eyes glaring at them.

"...except for them," Aang said.

"Right, except for them," a scared Sokka parroted as the four teens huddled together in fear. Moments later, the Gang's campfire went out as they finally fell asleep; just as before, vines were moved to give someone a view of the teens. One vine suddenly started slithering toward them and wrapped itself around Sokka. The Gang was still asleep when more vines appeared and tied each of them up; the vines suddenly pulled the teens away from each other, waking them up instantly. Sokka quickly planted his blade that was still in his hand into the ground, stopping himself from being dragged, but the three benders screamed as they were all pulled into the foggy swamp. Sokka struggled against the bindings, eventually using his machete to cut himself free. He got up and ran to escape more vines that tried to grab him; he tripped and fell down a tree root into the water but quickly got back up and continued running from the vines.

With Katara, she fought her restrains before pulling out water from her pouch and using it to sever every vine that came at her before running away.

Gohan fought against the force pulling on his vines; he then revved up his Ki, reducing the vines around him to shreds. "Whoever you are, come out and face me!" he shouted to the swamp. "Where are my friends?!" He quickly brought out his sword and cut more vines that tried to grab him before wandering off into the dark swamp.

With Aang, he managed to create an air bubble, expanding the vines tied around him before dropping the bubble and jumping free of his restraints. He jumped from branch to branch while he was being pursued by more vines; one vine managed to grab his ankle and dragged him to the ground, but he used his airbending to escape and gain some distance. When he got away, he stood up to find that he was alone in the misty swamp. "Guys?" he called out before the fog faded away.

Moments later, each teen was wandering around the swamp looking for each other and their animal friends. The Energybender walked through the water as he called out to his friends. "Aang! Katara! Sokka!" When he got no answer, he decided to see if he could find any of their pets. "Appa! Icarus! Momo!" The spiky-haired boy still found nothing, so he attempted to sense their energies, but he couldn't pick up a trace of Ki. _"It's no use. I can't sense any of their life forces; this swamp's own energy keeps getting in the way,"_ he thought as he kept walking. He then noticed someone standing in the distance in the light. "Hello? Is someone there?" he asked as he started to approach the stranger. As he got closer, he saw that the person was wearing an orange gi and had black spiky hair and eyes; the resemblance was similar to his own but also to someone else's. "Dad?" Gohan questioned, but the person didn't answer him. Now much closer, Gohan could see that the person wasn't his father. The hair was shaped like a palm tree but was slightly off and the blue undershirt was long sleeved instead of short sleeved like his or Goku's; plus he looked much younger than Goku, like he was a teenager.

When the light faded, Gohan could see who it was standing before him; he stopped right in front of the person as he stared at him in surprise. "G-Goten? Is that you?" he asked but still got no answer. He blinked and saw that his brother had vanished from his sight. _"It couldn't be… could it?"_ he wondered. He then looked up and saw his younger brother jumping across tree branches. "Goten, wait!" Gohan called before chasing after him. Gohan pursued his brother until he went behind a tree; when Gohan looked there, he saw Goten was gone again. Goku's 1st son then spotted the 2nd son on the ground running. Gohan jumped down and chased after him again; the boy came close to grabbing his brother before he crashed into a tree. He shook his head and saw no Goten. _"I must be going nuts. Yeah, swamp's playing with my head. That's why I can't sense his energy,"_ Gohan thought before he muttered, "Goten is dead." He then sensed something and looked up to see Goten running along a large tree. Even though he thought it was an illusion, he still followed after his brother; he continued to pursue until he stopped at a large tree. Staring at this tree, he touched it and felt a strange sensation. _"This is where the swamp's energy is coming from,"_ he thought. Gohan then walked around the tree and stepped on something hard; he looked down and saw a round object covered in moss.

Gohan picked up the sphere and rubbed the moss off, and he saw that it was an orange orb with six stars on it. "It's another Dragon Ball!" he exclaimed.

A little earlier, Aang wandered through the swamp, looking for his companions while calling for them. "Gohan! Katara! Appa!" He then spotted something in the light: a girl in a fancy white dress with a winged pig. "Hello?" he said to the girl as he walked toward her. "Who are you?" The girl just giggled as the flying boar flew away; she then turned and walked off. "Hey, come back!" Aang yelled before jumping to follow the girl. He looked around and spotted the girl on a tree branch before she disappeared. The Avatar swung on vines to catch up to the mystery girl. The Airbender went in every direction he could, but no matter where he went, the girl seemed to evade him with ease while still laughing. The monk continues to pursue the girl until he spotted her on top of a mound. "Who are you?" he inquired as he ran toward the girl. The girl then turned toward him, revealing to actually be… Katara. Aang saw her but was unable to stop himself from crashing into her. The two tumbled along the tree and crashed into Sokka, taking him with them.

Gohan gazed at the mystic orb and said, "That makes three, better put this with the others!" He reached for his bag, only to find that he didn't have it on him. "Oh right, it was on Appa when the tornado hit us," he remembered while facepalming. He then heard something coming his way. He turned in time to see his friends flying toward him but not in time to dodge. The three crashed into the Energybender and the Gang rolled all the way to the bottom of the large tree. When they finally stopped, the Water Tribe siblings sat up, looking very upset. "Hey guys!" Gohan greeted them.

"What do you guys think you're doing?! I've been looking all over for you!" Sokka shouted at them.

"Well, I've been wandering around looking for you!" Katara yelled back.

"I was chasing some girl," Aang said as he got to his feet.

"What girl?" Katara questioned as she was pulled to her feet by the monk.

"I don't know. I heard laughing and I saw some girl in a fancy dress," Aang explained.

"Well, there must be a tea party here and we just didn't get our invitations!" Sokka said in a sarcastic tone.

Katara was quiet for a moment before she sadly said, "I thought I saw Mom."

"I saw my brother," Gohan confessed.

"You mean Aang?" Katara inquired.

"No, my blood brother. His name's Goten," Gohan responded.

"I thought you told me that he died years ago, before we even met," Aang said. Gohan didn't reply, but just looked away in grief.

Sokka's expression turned sad as well. "Look, we were all just scared and hungry and our minds were playing tricks on us. That's why we all saw things out here," he said to the benders.

"You saw something too?" Katara asked her brother.

Sokka turned away before confessing, "I thought I saw Yue."

"Isn't she the Moon Spirit now?" Gohan inquired.

"Exactly, and me seeing her proves nothing!" Sokka stated as he faced his friends. "Look, I think about her all the time. Gohan, you saw your brother, and Katara, you saw Mom, people who you both miss a lot."

"But the vision of my brother was different than when I remembered him," Gohan countered. "He died when we were little kids, but here he looked to be about my age."

"What about me? I didn't know the girl I saw," Aang reminded him. "And all of our visions led us right here." The four teens looked up at the large tree that was surrounded by numerous smaller trees.

"Okay... so where's here?" Katara questioned. "The middle of the swamp?"

"Yeah, the center..." Aang agreed.

"I do feel most of the swamp's energy coming from here," Gohan put in. "Like it's the core."

"No, it's the heart of the swamp, it's been calling us here," Aang stated as he smiled at the large tree. "I knew it."

"It's just a tree. It can't call anyone!" a still unconvinced Sokka said. "For the last time, there's nothing after us and there's nothing magical happening here!" At that moment, a giant monster made entirely out of swamp vines and wearing a wooden face emerged from the water in front of the Gang, causing them to scream and clutch each other in fright. The four teens gazed at the swamp monster in awe, until it swung one of its arms at them and the four quickly scattered to avoid the attack. The creature then stretched its vine arm to grab Sokka, who was running through the water. The tribesman was slammed around by the monster before Aang cut off the arm holding Sokka with an air attack; Sokka fell into the water while the monster stretched its arm, slapping Aang aside. In the water, Sokka tried cutting up the vines before they were pulled back into the monster's body. Sokka got grabbed again and the swamp creature surfed across the water with him in its grasp. Katara stepped in and cut the monster's left shoulder with her waterbending, but more vines grow from its shoulder, repairing the damage Katara had done.

The Waterbender surfed across the water to evade the monster's strikes; she then hit it with a giant wave, knocking it backwards. Katara then separated the water, clearing a path for her to approach the swamp beast. She ran toward it, but was sent flying by a third vine arm from its abdomen. Aang got back up in time to see Katara fly though the air just before he was struck by the vine arm. Gohan charged at the monster and pulled out his sword; he cut all three arms off of the beast but they instantly reattached themselves. "If I can't cut you to ribbons, then I'll pound you to pieces!" the Z Fighter exclaimed as he put back his sword and jumped at the monster. He punched it where its gut should be, but instead of it inflicting any damage, Gohan's fist sunk into the vines due to them being so soft they absorbed his attack. Gohan gasped just before the vines started entangling him into the monster's body. Gohan struggled to free himself and eventually did by releasing his Ki and blowing the creature back with a kiai.

He then jumped to hit the monster with an energy blast, but it grabbed him with the third vine arm and threw him through the swamp; it then pulled the arm holding Sokka back into its body, pulling the tribesman in as well. Sokka attempted to fight against the vines, but they kept him restrained inside the swamp being's body. The monster walked through the swamp waters while Sokka struggled to escape its grasp. Aang appeared on his air scooter and rode to the top of the attacker's head; he created a whirlwind, twisting the vine monster and tangling it up. Katara then used her ice breath to freeze a circle in the part of the enemy that held her brother. Gohan then covered himself with energy and flew at the monster like a missile; he collided with the ice circle, shattering it and grabbing Sokka. The two boys landed in the water in front of the monster that now had large hole in its body, though it quickly summoned more vines to repair its hole and approached the teens. **"Masenko…ha!"** Gohan shouted as he fired an energy beam at the foe; the blast collided with the monster, knocking it onto its back. When it stood, its mask was burned black and smoking; the swamp beast countered by slamming its arms into the water, creating a large wave and bending it at the Son of Goku, sending him flying through the air once again.

Aang suddenly hit the monster in the back with a wind slam, knocking it face first into the water. He landed in front of it before it stood up and slapped him away into the water. Now ticked off, Katara started moving her arms in a circular motion, creating numerous water slicers that bombarded the monster and cut it apart. The rapid slicing began to overwhelm the beast and the vines started to slide off faster than it could recover. At one point, the vines were cut open enough to reveal a man inside before they closed up just as quickly. Gohan then joined in by firing multiple Ki blasts at the monster. Once again, the vines were destroyed and the man was exposed, but he quickly bended the vines back around himself. "There's someone in there! He's bending the vines!" Sokka alerted his comrades. Katara then created a huge water blade, severing the monster's mask and body diagonally. The top half fell into the water but the vines restrained Katara when Aang and Gohan suddenly landed in front of the vines and used air and ki blasts to blow them away, stripping the man of his power. "Why did you call me here if you just wanted to kill us?" Aang demanded furiously.

"Wait! I didn't call you here," the bearded man in a leaf loincloth stated.

The teens glanced at each other before looking back at the swamp bender. "We were flying over and I heard something calling to me, telling me to land," Aang explained.

"He's the Avatar. Stuff like that happens to us - a lot," Sokka clarified.

"The Avatar! Come with me," the man requested. The Gang dropped their fighting positions and began following the swamp bender up the root of the largest tree in the swamp.

"So, who are you then?" Katara inquired.

The swamp bender moved a vine out of the way, letting the Gang pass. "I protect the swamp from folks that want to hurt it," he revealed before gesturing to Sokka holding his machete. "Like this fellow with his big knife."

"See? Completely reasonable. Not a monster, just a regular guy defending his home. Nothing mystical about it," Sokka said.

The Swampbender continued to lead the Gang up the tree root. "Oh, the swamp is a mystical place, all right. It's sacred." He sat down and started explaining. "I reached enlightenment right here under the banion grove tree. I heard it callin' me, just like you did."

"Sure ya did. It seems real chatty," Sokka remarked sarcastically.

The man ignored him and continued on with his lesson "See, this whole swamp is actually just one tree spread out over miles. Branches spread and sink and take root and then spread some more - one big living organism, just like the entire world."

"I get how the tree is one big thing, but… the whole world?" Aang asked in perplexity.

"Sure. You think you're any different from me? Or your friends? Or this tree?" the Swampbender countered. "If you listen hard enough, you can hear every living thing breathing together, and you can feel everything growing. We're all livin' together, even if most folks don't act like it. We all have the same roots, and we are all branches of the same tree."

"But what did our visions mean?" Katara wondered.

"In the swamp, we see visions of people we've lost, people we loved. Folks we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they're not," the protector of the swamp explicated. "We're still connected to 'em. Time is an illusion, and so is death."

"But what about my vision?" Aang questioned. "It was someone I had never met."

"You're the Avatar, you tell me," the man told him.

Aang muttered while thinking about his vision. "Time is an illusion... so it's... someone I will meet?" he asked.

" _Time is an illusion, and so is death,"_ Gohan thought for a moment. "Does that mean my brother's still alive… and that we'll meet again?"

The Swampbender smiled and nodded to both of them.

"Sorry to interrupt the lesson, but we still need to find Appa, Icarus, and Momo," Sokka cut in.

"How? I still can't sense their energies," Gohan reminded him.

"I think I can help with that," Aang said. "Gohan, come here for a sec." The Energybender stood by the Airbender; they placed their hands together and closed their eyes. "Everything is connected," Aang muttered as the tattoo on his hand started to glow. A white stream of energy shot out of their hands and began traveling down the root into the swamp. The two boys then had a vision of where their animals were located; they saw more swampbenders chasing down Appa and Icarus. They had just managed to catch the bison with a large net and captured the dragon by roping his legs and tail. The boys then opened their eyes and stood up. "We know where they are!" they announced.

Elsewhere in the swamp, the swampbenders were dragging the flying beasts back to their camp. "Set my lines by the river bed! Caught ten fish and I killed 'em dead! Cut 'em and gut 'em and I tossed the heads in the water to keep them cat gators dead," the bender named Tho sang as he patted the side of his boat while Momo struggled in his bag and his partner Due was bending the river to move the boat. Suddenly, an energy blast shot through the air and collided with one of the boats, destroying it and sending two swampbenders flying into the river. Gohan then descended to the river and cut his dragon free; Icarus cuddled with his friend and licked his face. "Hey Icarus, nice to see that you're ok!" Gohan exclaimed just as Aang appeared on a tree branch. "Appa!" Aang cried before he launched an aerial attack at Tho, blasting him into the water and releasing Momo from his bag.

"We're under attack!" Due shouted. The Swampbender then shot a large wave of water at the Airbender; Katara came beside him and the two repelled the tidal wave. The three benders pushed the wave in the exact same motion.

"Hey, you guys are waterbenders!" Katara gasped in realization.

"You too? That means we're kin!" Due said with a smile, although his statement made Katara cringe. Sokka and the Swampbender they met earlier appeared beside the others. "Hey, Hue! How you been?" Due greeted his friend.

"You know, scared some folks, swung some vines, the usual," the bender named Hue replied.

The teens stare at Hue in disbelief while Sokka said, "Hue?"

Moments later, the Gang and the swampbenders were all gathered around a campfire. Their animal friends were rested behind them as they all chowed down on shish-kabobs. "How you like that possum chicken?" Due asked the Gang.

"Not bad," Gohan replied in between chomps.

"Tastes just like arctic hen," Sokka commented before he asked, "So why were you guys so interested in eating Appa? You've got plenty of those big things wandering around," while gesturing to the reptile like creature behind Due.

"You want me to eat old Slim? He's like a member of the family!" Due exclaimed before tossing a piece of fish to Slim.

"Nice, Slim!" Sokka said as he tossed it his own food; it bounced of Slim's muzzle, making him growl at the tribesman, who flinched in fear.

"Oh, he don't eat no bugs! That's people food," Due laughed.

"Where'd you say you're from?" Tho asked the Water Tribe siblings.

"The South Pole," Katara answered.

"Didn't know there was waterbenders anywhere but here. They got a nice swamp there, do they?" Tho continued to ask.

"No, it's all ice and snow," Katara stated.

Due and Tho stared at the southerners in shock. "Hmm. No wonder you left," Tho remarked.

"Well, I hope you realize now that nothing strange was going on here," Sokka said to his friends. "Just a bunch of greasy people living in a swamp."

"What about the visions?" Katara questioned.

"I told you, we were hungry. I'm eating a giant bug!" the tribesman replied as he held up the huge insect and took a bite out of it.

"But what about when the tree showed me and Gohan where Appa, Icarus, and Momo were?" Aang inquired.

"That's Avatar stuff, that doesn't count," Sokka denied.

"What about the twister that sucked us down here?" Gohan challenged.

"That's the only thing I can't figure out. How'd you do that, Hue?" Sokka asked the Swampbender.

"I can't do anything like that! I just bender the water in the plants," Hue responded.

Sokka frowned and dismissed the issue. "Well, no accounting for weather. Still, there's absolutely nothing mysterious about the swamp."

Gohan then pulled out the dragon ball he found and looked at it. _"I'm just one step closer to finding all seven dragon balls,"_ he thought before looking up. _"And if you're out there, bro, I'll find you too!"_

Somewhere in the Earth kingdom, the broad swordsman that oppressed General Iroh was walking through the streets alone at night when he heard a strange noise coming from behind him and instinctively brought out his dual swords. "Who's there?" he demanded to know as he turned around. The Red Spirit stepped out of the shadows and approached the swordsman. "Who are you?" he asked the spirit.

"Give me you swords, or I'll take them from you," the Red Spirit simply said.

The broad swordsman raised an eyebrow before laughing at the masked man. "Listen pal, I'm not a fan of people sneaking around and threatening me, but since I'm a nice guy, I'll let it slide if you leave now," he offered.

"It seems you misunderstand what I said… I'm not leaving without your swords!" the Red Spirit hissed.

"You don't know who you're messing with!" the swordsman warned.

"I was just about to say the same thing!" the Red Spirit retorted.

"Well then, bring it on!" the swordsman called out.

"Very well," the Spirit said as he took a fighting stance, which confused the swordsman.

"Aren't you gonna draw your weapon?" he asked the Spirit.

"Don't worry, I'll take your swords when you're done with them," the masked fighter replied. Although he was confused, the swordsman charged at the man who threatened him; he swung his swords at the Red Spirit, but every strike was evaded easily. The Red Spirit then grabbed the wrist of his right arm and twisted it, forcing the man to release one of his blades and allowing him to claim it. "Now according to you, the fight's fair," the Red Spirit spoke. "However, it won't be long before you are defeated." Now ticked off, the swordsman swung his last blade wildly at the masked man, yet the Red Spirit demonstrated superior swordsmanship by deflecting all off his strikes before knocking the sword out of his hand and kicking him to the ground. He pointed the sword at the former swordsman's throat and stated, "You are not worthy to wield such excellent weapons." The Red Spirit then got on one knee and held the swords up; suddenly the Blue Spirit appeared and received the blades presented to him. Both Spirits glanced at the defeated swordsman before fading into the darkness.

 **A/N: That's another chapter done! Sorry if it's short, I just couldn't bring myself to write some parts since I felt they were irrelevant and that you could just watch the show to know what originally happened. Anyway, this chapter's main purpose was to introduce the 2** **nd** **Son of Goku into the Avatar Universe. That's right, Goten's gonna make an appearance, and it'll be pretty soon! Until then, stay tuned more chapters in the future, 'cause I'm not done with this story yet! TTFN AntiHero out!**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Water…Earth…Fire…Air…Ki! A while ago, someone started writing one of the best crossovers between Avatar and Dragon Ball Z. He called it Five Elements; after a few successful chapters, he took a break from this story for a while, but I'm here to tell you…he's back! Hey there, AntiHero here! I know it's been a long time since I last updated this story, sorry about that been busy with my other successful ones and few other things in life; but the PMs have reminded me that this story's not done yet and that people are still waiting for more chapters to read and enjoy! Well here's one now and I hope it will be worth the wait for you guys!**

 **Disclaimer – I do not own Avatar the Legend of Aang or Dragon Ball Z**

 **Chapter25 – The Blind Bandit and the Stone Soldier**

When we last saw the Gang, (well according to my story) they were in a special swamp where Aang saw a vision of a girl he was destined to meet and Gohan saw his younger brother; now, the teens were wondering an earth kingdom town. The three benders were patiently waiting on the nonbender who was deciding on whether he should purchase a bag or not. "It's pricey, but I really do like it." Sokka said about the bag.

"Then you should get it. You deserve something nice." Katara told him.

"I do, don't I?" Sokka agreed before he frowns at the bag. "But no. It's too expensive, I shouldn't."

"Alright, then don't." Katara said a bit annoyed. The three benders and Momo walked with Sokka sadly following after them; he then ran back to the bag with a smile.

"You know what? I'm gonna get it." He said gleefully.

The benders were waiting along the street for their friend when a man came up to them. "Psst, psst. Hey, you kids like earthbending? You like throwing rocks? Then check out Master Yu's Earthbending Academy." He smiled as he handed a flyer to the Avatar before walking away.

"Look, there's a coupon on the back. The first lesson is free." Aang said as he looked at the flyer.

"Who knows? This Master Yu could be the earthbending teacher you've been looking for." Katara suggested. Moments later, Aang's companions were waiting outside the earthbending academy; Aang came outside in the academy uniform dusting sand off.

"Well?" Gohan asked.

"He's not the one." Aang replied.

Just then two Yu's students passed by the Gang. "I think The Boulder is gonna win back the belt at Earth Rumble 6."

"He's gonna have to fight his way through the best Earthbenders in the world to even get a shot at the champ."

Intrigued Aang rushed over to the boys and asked "Excuse me, but where is this earthbending tournament exactly?"

"It's on the Island of Noneoya - none o' ya business!" The boys replied harshly before walking away laughing.

"Ha, ha! Oh, I got to remember that one." Sokka laughed as he and the other met up with Aang.

"I'll take care of this." Katara assured Aang before going after the boys. "Hey strong guys, wait up!"

As they waited for the Waterbender to return, Sokka did his usual complaining. "What was I thinking? I don't need a new bag. Why'd you guys let me buy this?" He then dropped his new bag on the ground and Momo jumped into it to take a nap.

Katara then returned and announced "You ready to find an earthbending teacher? Because we're going to Earth Rumble 6!"

"How did you get them to tell you?" Aang inquired.

"Oh, a girl has her ways." Katara replied giving an innocent smile; at the same time, the boys from earlier were frozen in ice from neck down, hanging the alley walls horizontally with their heads literally put together.

At night, the Gang made their way to the Earthbending arena that was underground; it composed of a large rectangular ring made of earth with stairs at all four corners. The seats were circled around the ring. The four teens found empty ones very close to the ring. "Hey, front row seats! I wonder why no one else is sitting here." Aang said, just as a flying boulder landed in the seats right next to Gang.

"I guess that's why." Sokka said as he sat next to Gohan, who was next to Aang and the Waterbender sat next to the Avatar.

An Earthbender appears in the center of the ring, bent multiple boulders into the, hoisted himself with an earth pillar then ended it by lowering the pillar back into the ring. "Welcome to Earth Rumble 6! I am your host, Xin Fu!" the Earthbender introduced himself; the crowd cheered loudly as they got excited.

"This is just gonna be a bunch of guys chucking' rocks at each other, isn't it?" Katara sighed in boredom.

"That's what I paid for." Sokka answered eagerly.

"The rules are simple. Just knock the other guy out of the ring and you win." Xin Fu explained before jumping back into his own personal seat. "Round one! The Boulder versus the Big Bad Hippo!" The bell rang as two big Earthbenders stepped ingot the ring; the Boulder was a dark skinned muscular man with dark brown hair in a pony tail, a tattoo on his back, wearing pants wristbands and ankle weights. The Hippo was an even larger light skinned man with light brown hair, wearing nothing but sumo style underwear, he roared to show his four teeth that were identical to that of a hippo's mouth.

"Listen up, Hippo. You may be big, but you ain't bad! The Boulder's gonna win this in a landslide." The Boulder declared excitedly.

"Hippo mad!" the Hippo shouted back while taking a stomp. The Boulder attacked first by pulling a few chunks of earth from the ring and tossing them at his opponent; they smashed against the Hippo, but when the dust cleared he was still standing with a rock in his mouth. He munched it to pieces and spit them out. The Hippo then stomping hugely on the ring causing it to quake and have the Boulder stumble backwards.

"Unbelievable, ladies and gentlemen! The Hippo is rocking The Boulder!" Xin Fu stated. The Boulder went all the way to the edge of the ring but didn't fall out as he pulled out a plank of earth to push himself forward before throwing it at the Sumo; Hippo was flexing to the audience and didn't until it smashed against his back. He turns to face his opponent who quickly levitates a piece of rock from under the Hippo and tosses both out of the ring. "The Boulder wins!"

The Gang watched the victor with impressed looks. "Not bad." Gohan commented.

"How about the Boulder Aang? He's got some good moves." Katara suggested.

"I don't know. Bumi said I need a teacher who listens to the earth. He's just listening to his big muscles." Aang shrugged, feeling unsure. "What do you think, Sokka?" The Tribesman in question was too busy cheering for the Boulder with the crowd to answer him.

"Next, the Boulder versus Fire Nation Man!" Xin Fu said as an Earthbender in Fire Nation clothing stepped into the ring while waving a flag with a fire insignia. The crowd along with Sokka booed at the fire themed Earthbender.

"Please to rise for Fire Nation national anthem." the man pleaded to the crowd before he started to sing. "Fire Lord, my flame burns for thee!" The audience expressed themselves with more booing and by throwing multiple rocks at the Earthbender.

"Go back to the Fire Nation!" Sokka shouted as he threw his own rock that struck the Earthbender's head. Fire Nation Man was suddenly pulled into the ring, stopping at his armpits; the Boulder then hoist himself up with a large earth pillar.

"No. No please!" begged the soon to be defeated opponent.

The Boulder starts his finishing move by jumping up and plummeting towards the ring with his knees out and his hands holding his ankles behind his back; he smashed into the ground, creating a pillar that launched his opponent out of the ring and into the boulder that was next to the Gang.

"Yeah! Whoo! The Boulder knows how to put the hurt in the dirt!" Sokka taints the Earthbender.

A man on a Badger mole cleans up the rubble, preparing the ring for the next fight one after another, the Boulder eradicated, eliminated or embarrassed every Earthbender that he faced as he made his way up. The many fans cheered for their hero, including the Water Tribesman. Finally, there was only one opponent left for the Boulder to face before becoming the new Earth Rumble Six champion…the current champion. "Now, the moment you've all been waiting for…" Xin Fu announced; the ring grew dark as the champion appeared. Two ladies stood beside the champion Earthbender as the light focused on that person. "The Boulder versus…your champion, the Blind Bandit!" The one facing the Boulder turned out to be a young girl in earthbending Gi, holding the championship belt and wearing a green cape, and yet no one was surprised to see her other than the Gang. The two ladies took the belt and the cape away as she prepared to fight.

"That girl's the champion?!" Gohan questioned as he glanced at her.

"She can't really be blind. It's just part of her character, right?" Katara asked in disbelief.

Aang gazed at her eyes and saw that it was just as her title said "I think she is." He replied.

"I think she is...going down!" Sokka shouted.

" _Can she really win this?"_ Gohan thought. _"Her Ki is higher than it should be at her age but the Boulder's is still a bit higher. Plus how can she fight when she can't see him?"_

The Boulder faces the current champion but seems hesitant to fight her "The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young, blind girl." He states.

"Sounds to me like you're scared, Boulder!" the girl mocks him while jabbing her finger.

The Boulder frowns at her comment. "The Boulder's over his conflicted feelings, and now he's ready to bury you in a rock-a-lanche!" He declares, now wanting to fight.

"Whenever you're ready...The Pebble." The girls mocks him again before laughing, as she does, the Avatar's eyes grew wide as he recognizes her laugh from his time in the swamp.

Gohan noticed his adoptive brother's look. "What is it Aang?" he asked him.

"The way she laughed just now…it's just like the girl from my vision did," Aang replied.

"It's on!" the Boulder said, he glares at the smaller Earthbender while sweating; the girl looks back at him with an expressionless face. The Boulder then takes a step forward as if he was to charge at the girl. The champion reacts by taking her own fighting stance; the Boulder prepares to make his next move by raising his foot. However, the girl suddenly kicks the ground in front of her, causing the small rocks in the ground to move towards her opponent. Aang stares in awe as he watches the Blind Bandit's attack strikes the Boulder's foot, making him slip and force a full split. Sokka faces goes from smile to frown as the male Earthbender let out a cry of pain. The Blind girl then waves her hand, creating three earth pillars to launch the Boulder out of the ring; he crashed into the wall below the seats and fell to the ground.

The Blind girl smile and raises her fist triumphantly "Your winner, and still the champion, The Blind Bandit!" Xin Fu declares. While the crowd is cheering, the Tribesman is crying.

"That was amazing! She won so easily!" Gohan stated.

"How did she do that?" Katara asked in awe.

"She waited…and listened." Aang said with a smile.

"I think we found your Earthbending teacher bro," Gohan said.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" someone shouted from the stands; the audience looked to the direction where the voice came from and saw a person in an orange Gi similar to Gohan's aside from the long sleeved undershirt with a hood that covered the his face. Strapped to his back was a small red pole in a sheath. His clothes had the same small turtle symbol on the right side of his chest but the big symbol back translated to 'Kai' while Gohan's translated to 'Demon.' The newcomer jumped from the stand, flipped through the air and landed on his feet the ring before facing the Blind Bandit. "I'm here to have a rematch against you Bandit!"

"Well, this is a nice surprise! Our favorite runner-up has returned for another attempt to becoming the champion! Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you…the Stone Soldier!" Xin Fu introduced the soldier.

The Blind Bandit smirked at her new challenger "Long time no see soldier, Have you finally finished your so called special training?" she asked jokingly.

"Yes! And this time will be different…because I'm going to beat you!" the Soldier declared as he brought out his staff and pointed it at the Bandit.

"Hmm, I suppose we can still have one more round!" Xin Fu said before turning to the audience. "What do you say folks?! Who's ready for some more action?!" The crowd cheered wildly in response to his question. The Bandit and the Soldier smirked at each other as they took their stances and prepared to fight. "Then our next match is…the Stone Soldier versus the Blind Bandit!"

"The soldier and you seem to have the same taste in style Gohan," Katara said to the Z Fighter.

"Do you think he can beat her bro?" Aang asked but got no answer. "Gohan?" He looked to his right and saw his brother staring at the Soldier in shock and wonder. "Gohan, you ok? You look like you've seen a spirit."

"Huh? What?" Gohan said when he snapped back to reality. "Sorry, I was just…distracted."

"Come on Soldier! Take her down!" Sokka shouted to the runner-up.

Gohan continued to stare at the Stone Soldier. _"His Ki feels…familiar. And that Gi is identical to mine…could it be?"_ he thought.

"Match, begin!" Xin Fu yelled.

"Power Pole extend!" the Soldier commanded to the stick; it grew in length until it was now longer than its wielder.

"That staff…I've seen it before." Gohan muttered.

The Soldier then stabs one end of the pole into the ring floor, when he pulls it out a stone rectangular prism is attached to it; he then flips it over and does the same thing with the other end, getting the same results. He twirls the new doubled ended earth hammer before stopping and holding his hand out. Numerous pieces of the earth are pulled out of the ring and start floating around the Soldier; he then points to the Bandit and the rocks fly towards her. The Blind girl just smiled and threw her fist forward, causing the flying rocks to turn into dust; the Stone Soldier then appeared behind the Bandit and swung his hammer at her. She quickly brought out a chunk of earth to block the attack but ended up being knocked backwards by Soldier's attack. The Bandit dug her feet into the ring to stop herself from moving backwards. "Not bad Soldier, your swings have gotten better! But it's still not enough to beat me!" the Bandit said.

"Oh, I'm just getting warmed up!" the Soldier assured. He then smashed his hammer against the ring, quaking it repeatedly. The Bandit effortlessly stuck her feet to the ring with earth so that she wouldn't be moved from the tremors. "Now I've got you!" the Soldier declared before he rushed at his opponent; he jumped up and brought his hammer down on her. She summoned to walls of earth to stop the attack, the Soldier then let go of his weapon and tried to punch her from behind. Sensing his attack coming, she encased his wrist in a block of earth before he could hit her. The Bandit then stomped, launching a rock fist from the ring to punch him in the chin. The Soldier back flipped and rubbed his jaw after landing.

The Soldier then raised his arms shaking the whole Earth Rumble 6 arena and he summoned a giant boulder from the ring; he then hurled it at the champion who put herself in a rock barrier to protect herself. The Stone Soldier then retrieved his weapon and charged at the Blind Bandit; he smashed against the stone dome, making it crack and crumble. But when he looked inside he didn't see the champion anywhere. He then jumped back just as the Blind Bandit came out from underground; she then bent two rock walls out of the ring and trapped the Soldier in a stone sandwich. The soldier held out his hands to push against the walls, dropping his hammer in the process. The Blind Bandit made the stone hammer levitate before rearing her fist back and throwing it forward; the hammer flew towards the Soldier like a missile, it struck him in the chest and sent him flying out of the ring. The Bandit raised her fists in triumph as the crowd cheered.

"The Blind Bandit wins again!" Xin Fu declared.

The Bandit then looked over to the edge of the ring where the Soldier had climbed back on; he approached and looked away in depression. "I lost…again." He muttered.

"At ease Soldier," the Bandit said while holding out her hand. "You put up a good fight, as always! It's always more fun to beat you than anyone else, thanks for the challenge."

The Stone Soldier bowed respectfully to the champion before shaking her hand. "Same goes to you! But don't get comfortable with that title! I will beat and take it for myself someday!"

"I look forward to it." The Bandit said.

Gohan couldn't take his eyes off the runner-up. "It has to be him." He muttered.

"What is it Gohan?" Aang asked.

"I think the Stone Soldier…is my brother Goten," Gohan answered.

Just then, Xin Fu jumped into the ring while holding a bag of gold. "To make things a little more interesting, I'm offering up this sack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat the Blind Bandit!" he announced to the audience; at first, no one gave a response to his challenge. "What? No one dares to face her?" he asked seeming surprised.

"We will," Aang and Gohan replied as they stepped into the ring.

"You both wish to fight her? That seems a bit unfair, doesn't?" Xin Fu stated.

"Actually, I wanna fight him." Gohan said while pointing to the Soldier. "What do ya Soldier? Still got some fight left?"

The runner-up raised an eyebrow before chuckling "What kind of fighter would I be if I turned down a challenge? I'll gladly take you on," he said. "If that's ok with you Xin Fu." The host nodded before jumping out of the ring.

Many specters from the audience were cheering for the brothers, including the Water Tribesman. "Go get em guys! Avenge the Boulder!"

"Do people really want to see four little girls fighting out here?" the Bandit said tauntingly, getting the crowd to 'ooooh.'

"Hey!" Gohan and the Soldier said offended.

"We don't really want to fight you. We just want to talk to you." Aang admitted.

"Boo! No talking!" Sokka shouted.

"Don't boo at them!" Katara said while slapping her brother.

The boys took a step forward and the Bandit smirked; she stomped on the ring and a large rock sprung from underneath the boys' feet. They jumped into the air, confusing the Bandit as she can no longer feel where they are. The Soldier turns to face them as land on the ground behind the Bandit. "Somebody's a little light on his feet." The Blind Bandit states as she turns around in anger. "What's your fighting name, the Fancy Dancers?" The boys shrug to her comment and the Bandit tries the same trick again; the brothers somersaulted through the air and land on the Champion and runner-up's right.

"Don't worry Bandit, I got this!" the Soldier assured as she stepped towards their challengers.

"Aang, stay behind me! I need to see something!" Gohan instructed the Avatar. The Stone Soldier pulled out numerous cube rocks from the ring and hurled them at Aang and Gohan; the Z Fighter pushed the Airbender aside and started smashing the flying stones with his fists.

"Not bad, but let's see if you can handle this!" the Soldier and he raised a giant rock from the ring and threw it at Gohan; the Son of Goku held out his and the large stone suddenly stopped right in front of his palm.

"Here, your turn!" Gohan said and he released a kiai that shattered the stone and sent them back at the Soldier. The Runner-up started rapidly twirling his staff, deflecting the many flying rocks. In that instant Gohan jumped and phased right in front of the Soldier, looking like he intended to punch the Soldier. Instead, he just grabbed the blue hood and tore it off revealing the Stone Soldier's face to the entire audience; the Soldier had hair shaped like a palm tree and black eyes. The Avatar and the Z Fighter stared at the Stone Soldier with wide eyes as he turned to smash the latter with his hammer. Gohan dodged the strike and landed beside the monk. "That hair, that face, and that Gi…there's no mistake, it is you Goten!" Gohan stated.

The Soldier looked surprise that the Z Fighter knew his name. "How do you know my name? Who are you?" He asked.

"You mean…you don't know me?" Gohan asked back incredulously. "It's me…your brother." The Soldier whose name was Goten grew wide eyes at the Z Fighter's statement.

"I'm getting tired of all this talking! You guys challenged us and now you're gonna see what happens to those who do!" the Blind Bandit declared as she raised two giant boulders from the ring; she threw it at the pair and Aang reacted instinctively by jumping up and releasing a gale force attack with his hands. The attack repelled the rocks but also blew the Champion into the runner-up so hard that they both slid right out of the ring. Xin Fu, the Boulder, and the water tribe siblings look completely surprised by what just happened. The silent crowd suddenly cheers for the boys' victory while they go over to the edge of the ring to see the Blind Bandit and the Stone Soldier storming away.

"Please listen! I need an earthbending teacher, and I think it's supposed to be you!" Aang called to the girl.

"Whoever you guys are, just leave us alone!" the Bandit said back.

"Goten wait! I'm really your brother!" Gohan said to the runner-up.

Goten glanced back at his brother before the Blind Bandit grabbed his wrist and said "Let's go Soldier!"

"I don't have a brother," Goten said softly. The Bandit then opened a door by stomping her foot; the two entered it before she closed it just as Aang and Gohan reached it. Gohan swung his right fist and smashed the rock wall but the two fighters were already gone, the boys turned away in depression before joining their friends and the host in the ring. Many specters were in the arena cheering as Xin Fu presented the belt and sack of gold to the new champions; Sokka hugged the host before receiving the prizes.

"Way to go champ!" the Tribesman said to the monk but he still looked sad. The next morning, the four teens were trekking through town, continuing their search for Aang's future teacher and Gohan's brother. "I gotta admit, now I'm really glad I bought this bag. It matches the belt perfectly." Sokka said admiring his new belt.

"That is a big relief." Katara said sarcastically.

"You sure the Stone Soldier is your brother Gohan?" Aang asked.

"I'd never forget his face." Gohan assured. "I know it was him, but for some reason he didn't recognize me."

"He did resemble your dad," Aang stated. "Something might've happened to him when you last saw him."

"Bottom line, he's alive and I need to find him!" Gohan said.

"Well if we want to find The Blind Bandit and the Stone Soldier, the Earthbending Academy is a good place to start." Aang suggested.

The Gang entered Master Yu's Academy where students were busy training; the two students they met before the earthbending tournament were punching sand in a pot when they noticed the Gang entering the academy. "Oh great, you again." One of the students said when he recognized the four teens, clearly not happy to see them.

Katara inched forward and glared at the boys, making them flinch. "Yeah, I didn't think so." She said.

"Nicely done." Sokka said to his sister.

"What did you do to them Katara?" Gohan questioned.

"Hey, you're the kid who beat The Blind Bandit and the Stone Soldier." The other student stated when he saw Aang.

"We need to talk to them, do you guys know where they are?" the Avatar asked.

"The Blind Bandit's a mystery. She shows up to fight, then disappears." The 1st student explained. "The Stone Soldier's even more mysterious. His face has always been covered until today, and he rarely makes an appearance but after he does, he always leaves with the Blind Bandit."

Aang looked depressed by the student's answer. "I'll handle this," Katara said to comfort her friend before she jabbed her finger at the 2nd student and declared "You're not telling us everything!"

"No no, I swear it's true! No one knows where they go, or who they really are." The 2nd student said while holding up his hands.

"That's because we're asking about the wrong person." Aang realized. "In my vision, I saw a girl in a white dress with a pet flying boar. Know anybody like that?"

"Well, a flying boar is the symbol of the Bei Fong family. They're the richest people in town, probably the whole world." The 1st student replied.

"Yeah, but they don't have a daughter." The 2nd student said from behind his friend.

"Flying boar is good enough for me. Let's check it out." Aang said to his friends and the four turned to leave.

"Yeah, you better leave." The students sneered quietly.

"Hey, I've got my eye on you." Katara said to the boys before leaving.

"Water Tribe," Sokka whispered as he followed her.

Back at the Earth Rumble Six arena, the Boulder stood next to Xin Fu as they discussed the events from their last fight. "I'm telling you, The Boulder was standing right there!" the participant of the tournament assured the host. "I saw the bald kid strike, but there was no earthbending! Nothing made contact! The Blind Bandit just crashed into the Stone Soldier and they both fell out of the ring! They must have took a dive and split the money with those kids."

Furious, Xin Fu smashed his fist against the wall, causing a few rocks to crumble and fall onto his foot; he screams in pain before declaring "Nobody cheats Xin Fu."

The Gang finally found the Bei Fong compound; it was a huge house with a big garden, and some ponds. All of it was surrounded by a gate with a flying boar symbol over it and two guards standing post. "That's the flying boar from my vision. Come on!" Aang said. The four then snuck into the compound, Aang and Gohan jumped over the wall, Sokka and Katara climb over it; they quickly hide in the bushes and peek out with Aang on the bottom, Katara above him, Sokka above her and Gohan above him. The ground suddenly started rumbling before it launched the Gang into the air, they scream as they descend back to earth; Gohan lands on his feet, Aang and Katara both land in a bush and Sokka lands chest first onto the ground. Aang looks up and spots the Blind Bandit now dressed in the white gown from his vision.

"What are you doing here, twinkle toes?" she asked the monk.

"How did you know it was me?" Aang asked back.

"Don't answer to twinkle toes. It's not manly!" Sokka said.

"You're the one whose bag matches his belt." Katara chastised her brother.

"How did you find me?" the Earthbender continued to question the Airbender.

"Well, a crazy king told me I had to find an Earthbender who listens to the earth." Aang started to explain, as he did, the Blind girl raised an eyebrow questioning his sanity. "And then I had a vision in a magic swamp and..."

Katara cut him off and gave a short answer "What Aang is trying to say is, he's the Avatar, and if he doesn't master earthbending soon he won't be able to defeat the Fire Lord."

"Not my problem." The Earthbender replied as she held her hand in Katara's face. "Now get out of here or I'll call the guards." She then turned and walked away from the Gang.

"Wait, where's my brother?!" Gohan asked the Bei Fong girl.

The Blind Bandit stopped and said "If you're talking about Goten then forget it. He told me he didn't have a family when we met, and he clearly doesn't know you."

"Please, just let me talk to him," Gohan requested.

"He's busy, but I'll let him know you said hi." The Blind then continued to walk away.

"Wait!" Aang called to her. "I really need to learn earthbending and you're the only one who can teach me!"

"I thought I already said no twinkle toes!" the Earthbender replied.

"Look, we all have to do our part to win this war. And yours is to teach Aang earthbending." Sokka said to the girl.

The Earthbender stopped for a moment before turning around. "Guards! Guards, help!" she cried with a fearful look; the Gang quickly fled as the guards rushed to the blind girl's aid.

"Toph, what happened?" one of the guards asked her.

"I …thought I heard someone. I got scared." The girl named Toph replied.

"You know your father doesn't want you wandering the grounds without supervision, Toph." The guard told her.

"Hey, where's that bodyguard of yours?" the other guard asked.

Goten soon came running towards them, wearing the same uniform as the guards. "Toph! I heard you calling, are you alright?" he asked the girl.

"I'm fine Goten," she replied.

"Where have you been?!" the guards questioned the spiky haired boy. "You're suppose to be at Toph's side at all times!"

"I know. I'm sorry." Goten apologized while bowing his head.

"You'd better not have been slacking off boy!" the guard warned him.

Toph stood in front of her bodyguard "Goten was just checking to make sure the place was safe for me to walk around. He told me to wait bur I got impatient and came outside on my own." She said defending the boy.

The guards glanced at each other before nodding. "Very well, we'll let it slide. You'd better escort Toph back to her room boy."

"Yes sir!" Goten complied before taking Toph away; Aang and Gohan were watching from nearby rooftop. The Avatar thinks for a moment before smirking and gesturing his brother to follow him.

Later that evening, Master Yu and Toph Bei Fong were sitting before the Bei Fong couple while Goten stood beside the blind girl; a cup of tea was placed in front of Lao Bei Fong, he picked it up, inhales the tea's scent before taking a sip. "I'm pleased to hear that Toph's private lessons are going well," Toph's father said as he placed his teas down. "But I want to be sure that she's not trying anything too dangerous."

"Absolutely not, I'm keeping her at the beginner's level. Basic forms and breathing exercises only." Master Yu assured.

"Very good." Lao replied.

A servant in a gray robe came in and bowed. "Excuse me sir, but you have a visitor." he said.

"Who thinks they are so important they can just come to my home unannounced?" Mr. Bei Fong questioned furiously.

"Uh, the Avatar, sir." The servant replied. Toph and Goten looked surprised before glancing at each other. Toph's parents did the same as the servant left and Toph blew a strand of hair from her face, clearly irritated. Moments later, the Gang was seated at the dining table with the Bei Fong family, Master Yu and Goten. Servants went around placing food on the table. Gohan, Aang, Katara, and Sokka sit on the left side of the table respectively; Goten, Toph, Mrs. Bei Fong and Master Yu were on the right respectively while Toph's father was at the table head. Lao Bei Fong glanced at his wife and Master Yu who were eating peacefully before looking at the Gang, Aang and Katara were sitting calmly while Gohan and Sokka were stuffing their faces. He then at Goten and back at Gohan seeing the similarities in how they were eating.

"Goten, you and this…spiky haired boy seem so alike," Lao stated. "It's almost like you're related,"

"Well, actually…" Gohan started to say before he was cut off.

"Yeah! That's a weird coincidence huh?" Goten said before he resumed eating.

Mr. Bei Fong shrugged it off just a servant placed a hot bowl of food before his daughter. "Blow on it. It's too hot for her." He ordered.

"Allow me." Aang offered. He lets out a small whirlwind that floats over to Toph's food and cools it off before fading. The adults clap at this display of airbending.

"Avatar Aang, it's an honor to have you visit us." Toph's mother states.

"In your opinion, how much longer do you think the war will last?" Lao asks the Avatar.

"I'd like to defeat the Fire Lord by the end of summer," Aang explained before glancing at Toph expectantly who only frowned back. "But, I can't do that without finding an earthbending teacher first."

"Well, Master Yu is the finest teacher in the land. He's been teaching Toph since she was little." Lao said gesturing to Toph's teacher who was dabbing his mouth with a napkin.

"Then she must be a great Earthbender," Aang begun to say before Toph lifts up her foot, releasing a small earth wave to jab the monk. "Probably good enough to teach someone else…ow!"

Aang and Mr. Lao (the former angrily) glance at the blind girl who feigns innocence by eating calmly. "Toph is still learning the basics." Master Yu explains.

"Yes, and sadly because of her blindness, I don't think she will ever become a true master." Mr. Bei Fong admits.

The Gang looks at each other before Aang says "Oh, I'm sure she's better than you think she is."

Now annoyed, Toph pulled her foot back, pulling Aang's chair forward and causing his face to slam into his bowl of soup. Everyone seems confused while looks upset at the blind Earthbender who still fakes not doing anything but eating. Aang slaps his face before smiling; he then lets out a sneeze that blows the food into the faces of Master Yu, Mrs. Bei Fong, Toph and Goten. After the food falls off of the girl's face she stands and asks "What's your problem?!"

"What's your problem?!" Aang asked back. Lao looks between the two teen, confused.

"Well, shall we move to the living room for dessert then?" Mrs. Bei Fong asked calmly while wiping food off.

After dinner night had fallen, the Gang was given a room to stay for the night; Katara and Sokka were sitting on one of the beds while Gohan was on the other meditating. Momo rested in Sokka's bag, Icarus was beside Gohan and Appa stayed outside by the room window. The Monk went over to the window and pets his friend. "Good night, buddy." He said. Toph then enters their room; the Airbender notices her and reacts by taking a fighting stance.

"Relax. Look, I'm sorry about dinner. Let's call a truce, ok?" She tells him. The Avatar calms down when he sees she means well and then follows her out of the room.

Soon after they left, Goten enters the room and approaches his brother; Gohan opens his eyes when he senses his Ki. "What's up bro?" He asked the younger fighter.

"Can we talk?" Goten asked. "Outside if you don't mind."

"Sure, it'll give us time to catch up." Gohan replied as the two stepped out of the room and went into the yard. Goten lead his older brother all the way to a rocky plain outside. "What's this?" Gohan asked.

"The guards made a place for me to train during my free time." Goten explained.

"So what are we doing here?" Gohan asked.

"You're going to convince me that you're my brother." Goten answered as he took a fighting stance. "Now, let's do this!"

"Oh, you wanna a proper spar huh?" Gohan realized. "I'm down with that, let's see how strong my little bro really is." He dropped his sword and took his own stance. "Alright Goten, show me what you got!" The younger fighter complied by jumping to kick his brother; Gohan ducked the first strike and blocked the second kick. Goten continued to unleash a fury of punches and kicks but Gohan managed to block all of them. Goten finishes his assault with a one final punch that Gohan blocks with his arms before jumping back.

"Not bad! But see how you handle this!" Goten said as he formed two energy balls in his hands.

" _So, he can use his Ki to attack directly,"_ Gohan thought.

"Ready!" Goten shouted as he launched his attacks at his brother. Gohan jumped to avoid the attack; it sailed past him and shattered a rock. He the sensed Goten coming at his right side to kick him and grabbed his brother's leg at the last second before tossing him aside. Goten slid on the ground before jumping back to his feet and rushing at his brother; the two Sons of Goku speed around the battlefield while exchanging blows. Eventually, Gohan took to the skies and stay there which seemed to tick Goten off. "Hey no fair Gohan! Get back down here!" he yelled.

"Why don't you just come up after me?" Gohan inquired.

"Cause I can't!" Goten replied.

"Wait, are you saying you can't fly?" Gohan asked and his brother nodded. "Huh, déjà vu. Well, I shouldn't be surprised; all the other Energybenders I've met couldn't fly either." The Z Fighter descended to ground level. "Sorry about that bro, if you want I can teach you to fly."

"Really? You'll teach me to fly?!" Goten asked excitedly.

"Some other time, now let's pick up where we left off." Gohan said and the two continued their match. They dashed around the area trading blows; Gohan then fired three energy blasts at his brother who dodged two of them and the deflected the other with his own blast. The collision made a smoke screen that blocked Goten's field of vision; he saw Gohan jump out f the smoke and jumped after him.

" _Since he's not flying this time, he won't be able to dodge me in mid-air! I've got him right where I want him!"_ the 2nd Son of Goku thought before he noticed his brother cupping his hands together at his side. _"That stance…seems familiar to me."_

" **Kamehame…"** Gohan exclaimed as his gather Ki into his palms. **"Ha!"** He fired the energy blue beam not at his brother but at the sky, launching himself at Goten like a rocket; Gohan skull bashed his brother, sending him plummeting back to the earth. Goten landed on his back and groaned as Gohan landed on his feet and offered his hand to his brother. "I think I won this time," he said. . "You're pretty strong Goten!"

Goten nodded as he took his hand and was pulled to his feet. "Thanks. You're tough opponent Gohan." he said. "And I believe you."

"Huh?" Gohan asked.

"I believe you…we are brothers." Goten clarified.

"Really? What convinced you?" Gohan inquired.

"The way we fought, it reminded me of a dream I had once." Goten explained. "We were different, you were older and I was much younger, but what really convinced me was that move you used to end the fight."

"You mean the Kamehameha wave?" Gohan asked.

Goten nodded. "In my dream, you showed me how to use that technique. Although…my control was…far from perfect, I could still use it well. Once we even did it together to beat some guy, that's when I knew you were my brother for sure."

"Well, I'm glad I could convince you! I thought you were dead until just recently." Gohan said. "What happened to you?"

"I don't really know. I just woke up one day with a bad headache." Goten replied. "I couldn't remember anything, just my name. I wondered alone until I was taken in by the Bei Fong family. I've had dreams of you and other people, but I wasn't sure if any of you were real."

"Trust me, there's a chance the people in dreams are real." Gohan said before he asked. "So, where you find the power pole?"

"Found it while I was traveling, felt…drawn to it for some reason," Goten answered.

"No surprise. That pole used to belong to our dad." Gohan said.

"I don't remember our dad, what was he like?" Goten.

"He was a great fighter, one of the best in history." Gohan replied. "He was my hero and I even met him once. I wanna be just like him someday."

"Do you think I'll get to meet him?" Goten asked. "So that I can learn who I am?"

"Absolutely. Just you wait; I know he'll reveal himself to you like he did me." Gohan assured his brother. "Alright bro, it's getting late. We should head to bed now." The 1st son of Goku started head to towards the Bei Fong house.

"Gohan, wait!" Goten called to his brother. Gohan looked back to see the Stone Soldier looking. "I know we're brothers and you probably want me to go with you. But the Bei Fong's are like family to me, I can't just leave them, especially Toph. Whenever you guys are ready to leave, it'll have to be without me."

Gohan approached his brother and put his hand on his shoulder. "I understand. I would do the same thing if I was asked to leave Aang, he and I are real close like you and Toph. I won't take you away if you don't want to leave but if you change your mind, I'll personally train you. I'll teach you all sorts of cool stuff; all you have to do is say the word."

"Thanks bro, I appreciate it." Goten said.

"No prob, now let's get inside." Gohan said before the two Energybenders made their way back into their rooms.

Elsewhere in the yard, Avatar and the Blind Bandit were walking together over a small bridge; Toph walks carefree across the rail as she begins to talk "Even though I was born blind, I've never had a problem seeing." She steps down explains how she can see while blind. "I see with earthbending. It's kind of like seeing with my feet. I can feel the vibrations in the earth, and I can see where everything is. You, that tree, even those ants." Aang looks around but is unable to locate the ants due to it being dark.

"That's amazing." Aang states.

"My parents don't understand. They've always treated me like I was helpless." Toph said depressed.

"Is that why you became The Blind Bandit? And hide your earthbending?" Aang inquired.

"Yeah," she replied.

"What about Goten? How does he fit into this?" Aang asked.

"H e was hired to b my personal bodyguard. H e takes the blame for any disappearance and keeps my parents from knowing the truth." Toph explained. "Being the Stone Soldier is just so he can have his own fun fighting with me."

"Why stay here where you're unhappy?" Aang asked her.

"They're my parents. Where else am I supposed to go?" Toph asked back.

Aang thought for a moment before suggesting "You could come with us,"

"Yeah. You guys get to go wherever you want. No one telling you what to do, that's the life. It's just not my life." She states sadly; her face then turned serious and she looks to her right. "We're being ambushed!" she then grabs Aang's hand and starts to lead him back to the house; they're cut off by one of the Earthbender from the tournament. He digs around them and jumps in front of their path. The two takes their stances but are soon encased in metal boxes before they can react. The Hippo jumps onto the boxes and stomps on them, the rest of the Earthbenders from the arena appear as Aang and Toph are completely imprisoned.

"I think you kids owe me some money." Xin Fu states.

Moments later, the Bei Fong couple, Master Yu, Gohan, Goten, Katara and Sokka came to where the Earthbenders had ambushed the Avatar and the Blind Bandit. The only thing they found were the marks in the ground from the boxes used to imprison the two and a knife sticking through a note. "Whoever took Aang and Toph left this." Sokka said as he picked up the blade and showed it to the others.

Katara took the note and read it aloud. "If you want to see your daughter again, bring 500 gold pieces to the arena. It's signed Xin Fu and The Boulder."

"I can't believe it." Sokka said as he grabbed the note and fell to his knees. "I have the Boulder's autograph!"

The teens look at the tribesman questionably while Lao speaks to Yu. "Master Yu, I need you to help you get my daughter back."

"We're going with you." Katara told him.

Toph's mother knelt in front of the marks holding her hands together. "Poor Toph. She must be so scared." She said.

Inside the earth arena, Aang and Toph were still encased in the metal boxes that were now hanging from the ceiling by chains; and contrary to what Mrs. Bei Fong said, the blind Earthbender was taunting her captors, clearly not afraid. "You think you're so tough...why don't you come up here so I can smack that grin off your face?"

"I'm not smiling," Xin Fu replied sternly.

"Toph!" Lao called.

The Earthbenders turned to see Lao Bei Fong, Master Yu, Gohan, Goten, Katara and Sokka in the ring. Sokka holds up the bag of money. "Here's your money. Now let them go!" he demands as he drops the money; Master Yu bends it over to Xin Fu, he checks it before gesturing for Toph to be released. The girl's box is lowered and opened, she steps out and goes to her father and the two leave with Master Yu and Goten.

"What about Aang?" Katara asked.

"I think the Fire Nation will pay a hefty price for the Avatar." Xin Fu states as he shows the wanted poster of Aang. "Now, get out of my ring!"

The teens prepare to when all of the Earthbenders jump into the ring. The water tribe siblings seem worried while Gohan glares and grabs his sword, still wanting to fight. "Go. I'll be ok." Aang tells them. The three reluctantly leave towards the exit where they meet up with the others.

"Toph, there's too many of them. We need an Earthbender. We need you!" Katara pleaded with the blind girl.

"My daughter is blind!" Lao says crudely. "She is blind and tiny and helpless and fragile! She cannot help you!"  
Toph closes her eyes before reopening them and taking her hand away. "Yes, I can." She states before heading back to the arena. The Earthbenders begin to leave the ring with the Hippo carrying Aang when a large springs from the ground and intercepts them. "Let him go! I beat you all before, and I'll do it again!" she yells to them.

"The Boulder takes issue with that comment!" the Boulder replies as the Hippos drops the box holding Aang; the Gang prepare to advance as the Earthbenders charge towards them.

"Wait!" Toph tells the Gang. She waits patiently, feeling the vibrations in their movements as they get closer. "They're mine!" she declares surprising the Gang while Goten just nods. The Blind Bandit stomps her foot and lifts her arms creating a light tremor; she stomps her foot again, causing an earth wave to blow her opponents backwards and scatter them with a wall of dust. She then steps into the dust as her father watches nervously. The first one she encounters in Fire Nation Man; he notices her and starts to attack by shifting his foot. Toph smiles at this as she can feel his next move. The older Earthbender throws a wave of sand at the girl; she effortlessly dodges it and strikes him with an earth attack that knocks him out of the dusty ring and onto the floor below the stands.

With Aang, the Gang managed to release him from the metal box; he rushes to help the blind Earthbender but is stopped by Goten's power pole and the wielder shakes his head no.

Next is the Earthbender wearing a green mask. He walks through the dust on all fours when he's hit in the head by a small pebble, he looks over to see a smirking Toph at his right. He jumps into the air, summoning two rocks to his palms and throws them at the girl; Toph catches and them and tosses them away. Before her opponent can touch the ground, she stomp her foot a few times, making multiple rock pillar that smack her opponent and eventually knocking out of the ring and onto Fire Nation Man. Gopher man attempts to sneak attack the girl by digging underground; Toph shifts her feet, sensing where he'll come out from. The male Earthbender tosses a rock at the blind girl but she catches it and throws back at him. He literally flies out of the ring and crashes into the other two Earthbenders Toph beat.

The Hippo emerges from the dust, swinging an earth disk while the Boulder jumps out; they both turn to see the Blind Bandit stepping out to face them and give her mean looks which makes her father even more worried. Toph's ear twitches as she hears the other Earthbender swinging towards her. She stands on the center of the ring which is the Earth insignia; the Boulder and the Hippo charge at her just as she bends the circle, causing the three of them to change positions so that the swinging Earthbender crashes into his colleges. The Gang stare in awe as Toph smiles then launches three Earthbenders out of the ring where they collide with the other three losers.

"I never knew. Your daughter's amazing." Master Yu says to Lao.

The Blind Earthbender brings her hands down, blowing the dust away and showing the last Earthbender she has to face, Earth Rumble Six's host. Xin Fu cracks his neck and takes his stance; Toph does a spit take and does the same. The two begin circling each other before Xin Fu starts off. He brings out asingle boulder, two boulders, another one, three boulders and then a large rock and kicks them all towards the Blind Bandit. Toph brings out two triangular rocks plates to shield her from the attack before launching one of them towards her opponent. Xin Fu jumps to dodge them and sticks his hand into the ring; Toph feels the vibrations in the ring and moves to the side, avoiding the next rock he throws at her. She then slams the ground, sending an earth wave at Xin Fu which throws him out of the ring towards where Lao and Master Yu were seated. The Aang, Katara, Gohan, and Goten smile at Toph while Sokka's jaw hangs open as he faints. "She's the greatest Earthbender I've ever seen!" Master Yu states to Toph's father who seems a bit upset.

Soon everyone was back at the Bei Fong compound; Toph stood before her parents who were sitting with two servants beside them while Goten stood next to her and the Gang sat behind her. "Dad, I know it's hard for you to see me this way, but the obedient little helpless blind girl that you think I am just isn't me." Toph confessed to her parents. "I love fighting. I love being an Earthbender. And I'm really, really good at it. I know I've kept my life secret from you, but you were keeping me secret from the whole world. You were doing it to protect me. But I'm twelve years old and I've never had a real friend. So now that you see who I really am, I hope it doesn't change the way you feel about me." When she was done she seemed a little sad.

"Of course it doesn't change the way I feel about you, Toph. It's made me realize something." her father stated.

"It has?" she asked.

"Yes. I've let you have far too much freedom!" Lao declared as his wife nodded in agreement. "From now on, you will be cared for and guarded 24 hours a day!"

"But dad!" Toph argued but was shut down.

"We are doing this for your own good, Toph." Her mother said. The Blind said nothing more as she looked down feeling even sadder.

"Please escort the Avatar and his friends out. They are no longer welcome here." Lao orders his guards.

As they were leaving, Aang looks back and says "I'm sorry, Toph."

"I'm sorry too. Goodbye Aang." Toph bids the monk.

Goten puts his hand on her shoulder to comfort. "Let me take you back to your room," he said.

"Actually Goten, I've realized something else from today. You haven't done your job as Toph's bodyguard and are a bad influence on her." Lao said to the 2nd son of Goku. "Therefore, you are relieved of your duty. Please leave immediately."

"Dad! You can't! Goten's family!" Toph argued.

"No he's not…not anymore!" Lao said sternly.

Toph wanted to argue back but Goten stopped her. "It's fine Toph, he's right. I wasn't the best bodyguard to you, because I knew you didn't need one. What you needed…was a friend and I tried to be that."

"What would you know of what my daughter needs?" Lao asked.

"More than you would know sir." Goten replied as he took of the earth hat and placed it on the floor. "Thank you for all you've done for me. Just give me a few minutes to gather my things." As Goten started to leave, he looked back at the blind girl and muttered. "See ya around Bandit." Toph didn't reply as she watched him leave before turning away and shedding a tear.

Outside the compound, the Gang was preparing to depart from on top a small cliff; as they did, Aang stood at the edge staring sadly at the Bei Fong compound, and Katara came and stood beside him. "Don't worry. We'll find you a teacher. There are plenty of amazing Earthbenders out there." She assured her friend.

"None like her," the monk replied.

Just then, the second son of Goku appeared on the cliff dressed in his fighting Gi with his power pole strapped to his back and a bag under his right arm. "Listen guys, I know you originally came for Toph, but would it be alright if I went with you?" he inquired.

Gohan smiled at his brother. "Sure thing bro, welcome to the team."

"Thanks, I look forward to our training sessions bro! You're gonna teach me all sorts of new things!" Goten said.

"Alright, let's get going." The Z Fighter said and the two climbed onto Icarus.

Aang and Katara climbed onto Appa and were about to take off when the Airbender heard someone breathing heavily; he looked back to see the blind Earthbender rushing to catch up to them. "Toph! What are you doing here?" he asked her.

"My dad changed his mind. He said I was free to travel the world." Toph answered.

The Gang looked at each other before accepting her answer. "Well, we'd better get out of here - before your dad changes his mind again." Sokka suggested.

"Good idea." Toph agreed.

"You're gonna be a great teacher, Toph." Aang told her.

"Speaking of which, I want to show you something Aang." She said.

"Ok." Aang replied as he descends to the ground; as soon as he touched the earth, his new teacher stomped her foot, bending a rock from the ground to knock the Avatar into a tree.

"Now we're even." She declared before raising her hand to Sokka. "Um, I'll take the belt back."

The Water tribesman reluctantly removes the champion's belt and tosses it to the rightful owner. "Ow!" Toph cried as the belt hit her head and knocked her down.

"Sorry." Sokka apologized just before Aang fell from the tree to the ground.

Inside the Bei Fong home, Master Yu and Xin Fu stand before Lao Bei Fong. "I know you two are very different…but I believe you have a common interest." The rich man states as his servant places a chest in front of the two; he opens it, revealing several pieces of gold, surprising the two. Master Yu and Xin Fu glance at each other, silently agreeing to work together and share the payment. "The Avatar has kidnapped my daughter. I want you to do whatever it takes to bring her back home." Lao orders them. The two Earthbenders bow to him, accepting the task at hand.

With Toph, she rests on Appa's saddle looking very happy before Goten appears next to her. "Looks like we're on a new adventure together eh bandit." He says.

"Can't wait for the trouble we'll get into soldier." Toph replies before closing her eyes peacefully.

 **A/N: And there you have it, the Blind Bandit and the Stone Soldier aka Toph and Goten have joined the Gang. I'll try to keep updating this story over time but I've got other ones that I currently work on so I may forget a few times. Hope you've enjoyed this chapter and let me know if you think I should do the Zuko Alone chapter; I know I didn't show Zuko leaving Iroh but it still happened anyway except it was Trunks, Zuko and Iroh that all went different paths but they'll be together again soon. It's not a poll so answer in reviews or PMs. If not, then I'll just skip it and move on to the chase. Stay tuned and keep reading! Until then, BBFN AntiHero out!**


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